Victims sue driver in horrific wedding crash

Family and friends of the accident victims retrace the short route the victims were walking when a truck collided with the group in Abbotsford, B.C., on Saturday, August 25, 2007. (CP / Richard Lam)

Victims in a horrific highway accident where a truck plowed into a wedding party are suing the truck's driver, his son, and the city of Abbotsford.

In more than 30 individual suits filed in Vancouver, some of the 17 injured people and the relatives of the six people killed say that the driver, Bachittar Singh Brar, should have taken better care when driving.

And the city of Abbotsford should have lighted the road better so that the wedding party would have been more visible to Brar the night of August 24, some suits allege.

In one suit, victim Rajinder Kaur Dhillon says that she suffered injuries to the head, neck, shoulders, arms, and legs.

Dhillon, who is a beautician who lives in Abbotsford, said that she also suffered a permanent injury to her right eye and lacerations to her face that would require cosmetic treatment.

In each individual suit, victims are claiming unspecified damages.

More than 1,000 people attended the funeral of the people killed in the tragic accident in September, where mourners remembered victims including Rubel Gill, 21, Bhupinder Kaler, 25, Satwinder Kaur Mahil, 56, and Damanprett Kang, who was just 13.

They had died late on August 24 as they paraded along an unlit rural road in an Indian pre-wedding tradition known as a jaago.

A pickup truck crashed into them, killing six and leaving another 17 injured. No charges have been laid in the crash.

The driver was 71. Shortly after the crash, he was beaten by angry youths, suffering a broken nose and injuries to his neck, face, eyes and chest.

The owner of the truck is also named in the suit. The plaintiffs say that Bachittar Brar's son Kulwant Singh Brar failed to maintain the truck and allowed Bachittar Brar "to drive a motor vehicle on the highway when his ability to drive was impaired by alchohol, drugs, and fatigue, or a combination thereof."

And the city of Abbotsford failed to provide proper lighting or warning signs, the suit alleged.

The city is commonly sued when car accidents happen, said city officials. A separate statement of claim denied every claim. The Brars had not filed a statement of defense yet.