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Lawsuit filed after deadly crash at Victoria International Airport

Nine-person suit names two defendants and seeks compensation after fatal crash last summer

Shirley Murray Zerbin and the Victoria Airport Authority are listed as defendants in a multi-party action filed in B.C. Supreme Court by lawyer Chris Considine in January.

The Victoria lawyer filed Jan. 11 on behalf nine people in response to a crash at the Victoria airport last July. No one has been criminally charged in the incident and police have not named a suspect.

The suit seeks compensation for injuries sustained by clients Santoch Sahota, Harbhajan Bhatti, Joginder Makhni, Chaman Hira, Surinder Leel, Happy Mann, Manjit Padda, Baljinderpal Sandhu and Kuljit Nagra. That compensation would cover pain and suffering, wage loss, future income loss, cost of care, Considine said.

It stems from a dramatic fatal crash at Victoria International Airport the afternoon of July 29, 2011 that killed one man and injured seven others.

"Ramesh Sharma lost his life after a vehicle driven by a 81-year-old woman struck him and several others, after losing control," Cpl. Chris Swain, of Sidney North Saanich RCMP said in January. "A complete and thorough report has now been submitted to Crown Counsel who will now make a determination if any charges are warranted and, if so, what charges they will be."

Witnesses told police the white sedan was driving fast when it went over the curb from the parking lot, across the airport entry road, over a raised green area where it struck a taxi and a table full of people. The vehicle carried on and hit a baggage carrier structure and crossed another stretch of pavement before hitting the airport security building.

reporter@peninsulanewsreview.com