The Ipoh High Court has fixed Jan 6 next year for mention of the RM105 million civil suit filed by the fathers of three students who died in the Kuala Dipang bridge tragedy in Kampar, Perak, last year.

Senior assistant registrar Noor Fadzila Ishak set the date in chambers after hearing an application for postponement by lawyer A Sivanesan, representing the three plaintiffs.

NONE They are suing 11 defendants over the collapse of the bridge on Oct 26, 2009, resulting in the death of M Devatharshini (represented by her father K Mageswaran), V Divyashree (represented by K Vasudevan) and N Dinadevi (represented by T Nanthan).

The defendants are the principals of SJK (T) Mambang Di Awan and SJK (T) Gopeng; the Kinta Selatan district education officer; Perak state education director; Kampar district council president; Perak Public Works Department director; Kuala Dipang Camp 1Malaysia commandant; Syarikat GS Synergy Sdn Bhd, Syarikat CWL Enterprise (the contractor), Education Ministry and the government.

Sivanesan in his submission said the plaintiffs needed more time to reply Syarikat GS Synergy Sdn Bhd, which has filed a summons in chambers to strike out the civil suit.

This is on the ground that it was only a sponsor and not involved in the construction of the bridge.

Sivanesan also requested more time to file the relevant documents with the court.

The tragedy occurred when the suspension bridge collapsed under the weight of 22 students, who were using it to cross a swift-flowing Kampar River on the night of Oct 26 last year. They were among 294 students attending a four-day 1Malaysia camp.