Adib's inquest: Witness says he saw a shoe print on fireman's body

SHAH ALAM: A witness said that he saw a shoe print on the body of a fireman, believed to be Muhammad Adib Mohd Kassim, as he sat in the car with the fireman on the way to the Subang Jaya Medical Centre (SJMC).

R. Narresh was in the vicinity of the Seafield Sri Maha Mariamman Temple, when he saw a commotion break out near the temple in the early morning of Nov 27 last year.

The Fire and Rescue Department's fire truck was attacked as soon as it arrived at the location, said Narresh.

It was when he was looking for his friends amidst the commotion that he saw a friend S. Suresh (eighth witness) walk out from the crowd.

He asked Suresh what happened in Tamil.

"He told me that a fireman has been beaten up (anggota bomba kena pukul).

"I then went into the crowd to see what was happening, and saw a fireman seated while leaning on the side of a car," he said, adding that the fireman was still in his uniform at that time.

He also heard people saying in Tamil "they even want to beat up firemen (anggota bomba pun nak pukul)", he said.

He said that he went near the fireman and asked the crowd around him to give the fireman space to breathe.

"I told them, don't go too near, give him space to breathe, and I went to find a vehicle (to take the fireman to a hospital), he added.

With the help of another seven men, who were carrying the fireman, Narresh said that he managed to flag down a Mitsubishi Storm 4WD that was making a U-turn near the area, to help bring the injured and unconscious fireman to the nearest hospital.

Narresh said that it was only in the car that he was able to get a closer look at the condition the fireman was in.

"His eyes were closed and he did not speak. All I could think of was protecting his head," he said.

It was while they were on the way to the hospital that he started cleaning the fireman's body.

And it was then that he noticed that the fireman's right side of the body was swollen.

"I saw that the right side of his ribs was swollen (lebam). It was noticeable, you can see that it was reddish as he had fair skin.

"I (also) saw that there was sand on his body and a shoe print on the right side of his ribs," he said, adding that he then wiped the area clean.

He said that he also tried to speak to the fireman all the way to the hospital, even though the fireman was unresponsive and his pulse was weakening (menurun).

"I said, 'there are people waiting for you, be strong'. I wanted to give him moral support," he added.

He was also the one who answered the fireman's mobile phone, which was ringing nonstop, as the fireman's team members were trying to reach him.

Narresh said that he stayed at SJMC until he was able to pass the fireman's mobile phone to the fireman's brother, Mohd Ashraf Mohd Kassim.

Narresh is the ninth witness to be called for the inquest into Muhammad Adib's death, which was held at the Shah Alam Sessions Court on Monday (Feb 18).

Judge Rofiah Mohamad sits as coroner for the inquest, which is on its sixth day.

Housing and Local Government Minister Zuraida Kamaruddin was also present at the proceeding and the inquest continues this afternoon.

Muhammad Adib, 24, was critically injured when he and his teammates from the Subang Jaya fire station responded to an emergency at the temple, where riots were happening last November.

He was taken to SJMC before being transferred to the National Heart Institute (IJN) for further treatment.

He passed away on Dec 17 at 9.41pm at IJN.