Statements of claim have been filed against the driver, Bachittar Singh
Brar, the owner of the vehicle he was driving, Kulwant Singh Brar, and
the City of Abbotsford in the August 24 Abbotsford accident tragedy in
which a pickup truck drove right into a 'jaago' procession of about 30
Indo-Canadians from the back on a dark rural road, Lefeuvre Road near
the King Road crossing, leaving six dead and 17 injured.
Well-known lawyer Bernie Simpson said about 30 plaintiffs had come forward so far.
The City of Abbotsford in a statement of defence has denied all the
allegations in the suit, claiming that the plaintiff's negligence
included, among other things, failing to wear reflective clothing or
carry a reflective device.
Back in August, Avtar Mahil, the father of the bride, and Avtar Singh
Kang, who lost his only son, 13-year-old Damanpreet Singh Kang, 13, in
the accident confirmed the names of the six killed (which were
different in various news reports) to The VOICE:
Damanpreet Singh Kang, 13.
Rubal Kaur Gill, 20, and Bhupinder Singh Clair, 25, (sister and brother from Toronto).
Ripudaman Singh Dhillon, 34, (from India).
Satwinder Kaur Mahil, 57, (wife of Balbir Mahil, younger brother of Avtar Mahil.)
Harjinder Kaur Sanghera (who is in her fifties).
One of the victims, 11-year-old Jas Mahil, told The VOICE at the time
that about 30 people from the celebration had come to his house where
they danced for about half an hour before heading back. There were two
"jaagos" (the traditional set of lights carried on the head in the
joyous ceremony that is meant to inform neighbours about the good news
of a wedding), one on either side of the procession. He was in the
front part of the procession and so wasn't directly hit by the truck.
He said he was hurled down by a crush of bodies. There was screaming
and shouting. Many victims were thrown into a deep ditch that ran along
the side of the road by the massive impact of the out-of-control pickup
that plowed into the procession.
Eyewitnesses told the media that the truck with flashers
that was supposed to tail the procession was just turning around in the
family friend's driveway to head towards it when the pickup truck
suddenly appeared and plowed into the group.
Abbotsford police said at the time that the 71-year-old
driver of the pickup had been questioned and released without charges.
He added: "Alcohol and drugs have been ruled out."