At least seven people were on Friday night killed when a 14-seater matatu hit a boda boda before colliding with an oncoming lorry at Lwandeti on Eldoret-Malaba road.
Eight passengers were rushed to the Webuye County Hospital, six of them in critical condition.
Doctors at the hospital were last night making preparations to have the injured transferred to the Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital in Eldoret.
The North Rift Sacco shuttle was headed to Bungoma while the trailer was heading to Eldoret when the crash occured.
The rider of the motorcycle and two passengers and four passengers who were travelling in the matatu perished in the grisly crash.
The matatu is reported to have hit the motorcycle after the rider emerged from a nearby home and rode into the road unexpectedly.
The matatu driver lost control of the vehicle after the collision and rammed the oncoming trailer which overturned, blocking the busy highway causing a traffic snarl-up for nearly two hours.
Travelling bags and personal effects belong to the passengers lay strewn at the scene of the crash which happened shortly after 11 pm.
Police had a hectic time trying to clear the scene and direct the vehicles on both sides of the road to ease the traffic jam.
Matete sub-county police boss Eric Yego said the matatu first hit the motorcycle before the driver lost control and rammed the trailer.
“We have so far confirmed seven deaths, three men who were on the motorcycle and four who include a woman and three men who travelling in the matatu. We are yet to identify them and their bodies have been taken to the Webuye County Hospital,” said Mr Yego.
The driver of the trailer, Hassan Simiyu said he was coming from Malaba and was headed to Eldoret and when he got to Lwandeti, he noticed a matatu approach from the opposite direction.
He said the matatu knocked the motorcycle after the rider suddenly entered the road. The driver of the matatu lost control and crashed into the oncoming trailer.
“I swerved to try and avoid a head on collision but it was too late as the matatu hit the front part of trailer causing me to lose control of the vehicle,” said Mr Simiyu.
He escaped without any injuries but his conductor was slightly injured.
