A Burnaby couple who survived a bus crash that killed nine people on an Oregon highway last month have filed a lawsuit against the Coquitlam tour bus company and the driver.
June Won Kim and his wife Hee Eun Kim are alleging in their civil claim that the bus, carrying 47 people and operated by Mi Joo Tour and Travel, was mechanically defective, the tires were inadequate for the road conditions, and the bus was not equipped with proper headlights, windshield wipers and warning devices.
The bus, which was returning from Las Vegas to Vancouver, crashed through a guardrail on Interstate 84 outside of Pendleton, Oregon on a stretch of road called Deadman Pass, on the morning of Dec. 30.
In the civil claim filed last week in B.C. Supreme Court, the Burnaby couple also allege the driver, a church deacon from Surrey, was too tired, speeding, failed to obey road signs and operated a vehicle contrary to restrictions on his driver's licence.
The couple say they both suffered a brain injury, a collapsed lung, and back and neck injuries resulting in permanent disability.
Won Kim, a dental technician, said he also suffered permanent injuries to his face, hand, knee, feet and teeth.
The couple is seeking unspecified damages.
The company operating the bus, Mi Joo Tour Travel, with offices in Vancouver and Coquitlam, has been banned from operating in both Canada and the United States.
Mi Joo company attorney Mark Scheer has said the bus driver had plenty of sleep the night before the Dec. 30 crash and that black ice was a major factor in the crash.
