KMB has filed a $1.14 million lawsuit against the driver of the truck that rammed its bus off a highway in Tuen Mun, killing 21 people.
The company is seeking the money from Li Chau-wing, 55, and truck owner Yip Cheuk-yuen for the family of bus driver Chan Wan-lin, who died in the 30-metre plunge. The company paid $1,147,784 to the family on May 7, 2004, according to a writ filed in the High Court on Wednesday. It is also seeking interest.
Mr Li was driving the truck that smashed into a KMB double-decker and propelled it off an elevated stretch of Tuen Mun Road on July 10, 2003. He was sentenced last July to 18 months in prison for one count of dangerous driving causing death.
He was freed in February after the Court of Appeal reduced the charge to careless driving and his sentence to five months. A two-year driving ban remains in place.
KMB, which compensated the family after a District Court order in May 2004, argues Mr Li and Mr Yip are 'vicariously liable'.
The bus broke through crash barriers and, after teetering on the edge of the road for a few seconds, plunged into a valley 30 metres below, landing near Ting Kau village.