Judge: Accident could have been avoided

FORMER Land Transport Authority CEO Etuate Koroi said if the owner of Raiwaqa Buses Ltd had his vehicles regularly inspected, the tragic accident at Navuevu, Sigatoka in 2008 which claimed 12 lives “could have been avoided”.

This was contained in the judgement of an accident case which was delivered in the High Court in Suva on September 30.

High Court judge Justice Lyone Seneviratne referred to an inquiry report prepared for the Minister for Works, Public Utilities and Energy regarding the accident which was tendered by plaintiff Sakiusa Soli who suffered injuries to his hand while escaping the burning bus.

Justice Seneviratne said it was unanimously agreed the fire was instigated when the main positive cable was displaced from its position and found lying over the starter motor.

He said the cable insulation had worn out and under naked conditions, stirred an earth circuit producing a series of sparks that became the source of the fire.

“In any fire situation under the triangle of fire, a fuel source will be needed to set flames alive and alight,” the judge said.

“In this particular case, it is believed that there was a fuel leakage on the fuel return pipe that was just above the starter position.”

Justice Seneviratne said the first defendant (Raiwaqa Buses Ltd) relied on the fitness certificate.

However, former LTA CEO Mr Koroi said if the owner inspected the buses regularly, the accident could have been avoided.

He said unlike other vehicles, buses had “very high mileage”.

Justice Seneviratne said based on the evidence, it appeared employees of the first defendant (Raiwaqa Buses Ltd) had not inspected the bus properly before the Sigatoka trip.

He also said there was no evidence the defects could have occurred during the trip to Sigatoka.

“The examination reveals these defects had been there for quite some time.”