A WITNESS told the Shah Alam coroners’ court today that he saw a fireman sitting on a road shoulder and clutching his chest during the riots at the Seafield Sri Maha Mariamman temple last November.

AirAsia trainee steward Amirul Adli Yussli said he noticed the fireman, believed to be Muhammad Adib Mohd Kassim, after a fire truck knocked into an Emergency Medical Response Services vehicle.

“I saw the fireman sitting on the road shoulder. Then, I heard people saying he was going to faint,” said Amirul, the fourth witness in the inquest into Adib’s death.

“A few people asked me if I could send him to hospital, and I said I couldn’t because my car was damaged and I couldn’t open it (car door).”

Amirul and his friend were on their way to Putra Heights when the road there were on was blocked by rioters. They then parked their vehicle and got down to see what was happening.

He said he saw hundreds of people gathering around a burning car.

“They were hanging around chatting, and some were drinking liquor.”

He said it was at this juncture that he saw a fire truck and an EMRS vehicle approaching the scene.

“Then, a group of people shouted to the firemen ‘jangan padam’ (don’t put out the fire). They attacked the truck, and it reversed into the (EMRS) van.

“During the commotion, the reversing fire truck crashed into my car.”

He told the court that he was concerned about his car and went to check on it.

“That was when I saw the fireman on the road shoulder several metres away.”

To a question from deputy public prosecutor Fatin Hadni Kahiruddin, Amirul said he did not speak to Adib.

He added that he did not notice bruises on Adib, and asked those around him what had happened.

“I asked what had happened, and some said he ‘kena bantai’ (got whacked) and others said they did not know.”

He said a group of people then carried Adib away, and that he could not recognise whom he had spoken to when he asked about the fireman. – February 13, 2019.