SHAH ALAM: A witness at the inquest into the death of fireman Mohamad Adib Mohd Kassim today told the court that he saw a mob of 30 people standing in a circle swinging punches and kicks towards something on the ground, in the centre of the group.
Saksi Nassaruddin Abdullah, who along with a friend, went to the scene of the riot on Nov 27 at 12.50am at the Seafield Sri Mariamman Temple in USJ 25, Subang Jaya, Selangor, told the inquest that he first saw a car on fire upon arrival.
“I saw a car on fire, I also saw people around me screaming, and there were also people taking videos,
“Then I saw a fire engine arriving, but before it even stopped, 20 to 30 people approached the fire engine and started throwing bottles, helmets and stones at it,“ he said.
He added that two people climbed onto the sides of the fire engine and were hitting it with helmets.
He also said that he saw the fire engine reversing and the crowd surrounding the vehicle followed it as it reversed.
“I then saw a van behind the fire engine turning after colliding with the reversing fire engine. And I could see a light from inside the van, as though the door was open but I am not sure if it was open. This was the sliding door (back door),” he added.
He said he then saw 30 people surrounding something in a circle on the ground on the outer left hand side of the van.
“I am not sure if it was a person they were surrounding, but I could hear screams of ‘berani kau orang masuk dalam kuil India’ (How dare you people enter an Indian temple), and other profanities in Tamil in the direction of the object that they were surrounding. This happened for about a minute.
“Then I heard someone scream ‘police’ and then the crowd dispersed and ran towards the temple,“ said Nassaruddin.
Nassaruddin then said he did not see what happened next after the crowd left, as he looked for his friend, identified as Karthik, who was missing.
“The next thing I saw after that was a group of people carrying a person who was only wearing a firefighter’s pants,“ he said.
Adib was part of a nine-man fire-fighting team that responded to a fire at the temple where rioters were protesting its relocation on Nov 27.
During the riot, Adib sustained severe injuries and was hospitalised for three weeks, before succumbing to his injuries on Dec 17.
During the inquest, it was revealed that Adib’s death was due to Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS) and multiple organ failure.
National Heart Institute (IJN) cardiothoracic surgeon senior consultant Datuk Dr Mohamed Ezani Md Taib, who revealed the cause of death, said the ARDS or lung failure occurred due to major blunt trauma suffered by the deceased.
An inquest into his death was commissioned as there were no conclusive findings in into how Adib was wounded during the riots.
Police investigations revealed there were two probabilities that could have led to Adib’s death - one being that he was beaten by the rioters or that he was run over by a fire truck.
