All those that perished during the 3am accident in Gilgil along the Nairobi-Nakuru highway were travelling in the Climax Bus that was heading from Western Kenya to Nairobi.
Among those who died were the bus driver and a ten year old girl while the occupants of the trailer escaped unscathed.
In the latest accident, the driver of the bus was overtaking another lorry when he ended up hitting the incoming trailer leaving 25 people seriously injured.
According to a passenger in the ill fated bus Amos Maobe, they left Vihiga on Saturday evening making various stopovers before the accident occurred.
Maobe who escaped unscathed said that the driver of the bus was totally to blame after he decided to overtake the lorry while underestimating the speed of the incoming trailer.
“The driver of the trailer swerved to the right to avoid a head collision and in the process the bus rammed into the side of the trailer killing 11 people on the spot,” he said.
He said that along the way, some passengers had pleaded with the driver to slow down but he had ignored their calls before the tragic accident occurred.
Another survivor Antony Wafula who sustained a leg fracture told of the passengers screams before the bus hit the trailer.
He termed the driver as careless and rude adding that had he heeded the advice of the passengers the early morning accident could not have occurred.
“The driver all along had been speeding and he did not listen to the passengers who were seated close to him and this caused the accident,” he said.
The bus conductor Isaac Mbugua who escaped with head and arm injuries however blamed the driver of the lorry they were overtaking for failing to give way.
“The driver of the lorry that we were overtaking failed to give way and our bus was trapped in between leading to the accident where the driver died on the spot,” he said.
Speaking on phone, Gilgil OCPD Emmanuel Opuru confirmed the incident adding that the bodies had been collected and taken to Gilgil mortuary.
He said that the occupants of the trailer escaped unscathed adding that initial investigations indicated that the driver of the bus was to blame for the accident.
“There was an accident involving a bus and a trailer and twelve people have died while twenty five others were injured eleven of them seriously,” he said.
Antony Gitonga