HOUSTON—A relative of three of the victims of the bus crash near Sherman is requesting unspecified actual and punitive damages in a lawsuit naming the vehicle’s manufacturer, owner and driver.

Lau Pham’s wife was injured and his mother-in-law, Cham Nguyen, and sister-in-law, Catherine Tran, were among the 17 who died as a result of the accident early last Friday.

Pham, who was not among the 55 passengers on the bus, filed a lawsuit Wednesday in state district court naming Angel de la Torre and his bus firms Angel Tours Inc., Iguala BusMex Inc. and Iguala Bus Ltd. Co. Also included were the bus driver, Barrett Wayne Broussard, and Motor Coach Industries Inc., the bus manufacturer.

Broussard is in a Sherman hospital in critical condition. None of the parties named in the lawsuit could be reached for comment, the Houston Chronicle reported Thursday in its online edition. Repeated voicemail messages left by The Associated Press for de la Torre, including one Wednesday, have not been returned.

The lawsuit seeks compensation related to medical costs for Pham’s wife, Bich Ngoc Tran.

“We want to know how can this happen. We want to find out the truth,” Peter Pham, Lau Pham’s son, told the newspaper.

State District Judge John T. Wooldridge granted a request included in the suit that prevents the bus or other evidence from being altered until Pham’s attorneys and their accident experts can investigate them.

Part of the evidence is a blown front tire which is suspected of causing the deadly crash.

“The physical evidence, the bus, the tire tell a story,” said Rob Ammons, Lau Pham’s attorney. “It’s going to tell us what happened in the crash.”

Pham’s lawsuit cites de la Torre, his firms and Broussard for negligence.

An Aug. 25 hearing date is scheduled.

Meanwhile, new questions have been raised about whether the bus was insured since Angel Tours had an insurance policy of $5 million, records show. However, Iguala, apparently had no insurance.