A family from China is demanding 1.7 million ringgit (US$378,356) in damages for the deaths of a father and daughter after an uprooted tree and part of a wall fell on their vehicle in the Pinang Peranakan Mansion car park in Malaysia’s Penang state last September.
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Their lawyer Ng Kian Nam said the family has initiated legal action against five parties, namely the museum operator, proprietor, tree owner, local tourist agency and tour guide/driver engaged by the duo during their trip.
“The family has authorised us to also write to the Penang Island City Council (MBPP) to seek an explanation why it only issued a notice of nuisance under the Local Government Act 1976 to the tree owner after the incident but not before that; and whether the said parties had submitted any official complaints to the council of the risk of the tree falling.
“The main cause of action will be based on tort, the Civil Law Act 1956, breach of duty of care, trade custom and statutory duties,” he told a press conference in Bayan Baru on Friday.
The victims were Liu Zhu, 69, and his daughter Liu Xinxin, 36.
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They leave behind Xinxin’s mother, husband, sibling and 11-year-old child, Ng added.