A WITNESS told the Shah Alam coroners’ court today that he fell on a fireman after being shoved during riots at the Seafield Sri Maha Mariamman temple last November.

Contractor S. Suresh, 23, said he noticed the fireman, believed to be Muhammad Adib Mohd Kassim, sitting on the pavement, leaning against a car.

“There were people pushing others around during the riots. I was also shoved, and I fell on the fireman.”

He said he broke his fall by placing a hand on the car and the other on Adib’s thigh.

“I noticed that the person was wearing a fireman’s outfit. He was not moving, so I thought he was unconscious. Then, I was kicked on the shoulder.”

Suresh said he went to the temple with seven people after seeing a Facebook post on masked, armed men attacking the house of worship a day earlier.

He said he went to show his support for the temple.

Suresh said when he arrived, about a thousand people were already there.

“They were all standing around. I went to perform prayers, and that was when I heard an explosion outside the temple.

“We went outside and saw a car on fire.”

He said he saw a fire truck approaching the burning vehicle.

“A group then rushed towards the truck. One person started smashing the windscreen. And the crowd started shouting ‘halau mereka’ (chase them away).”

During the commotion, Suresh said he heard a group shouting in Tamil: “Don’t hit, don’t hit.”

He then saw his friend, R. Narresh, who asked what had happened to him.

“I told Narresh that a fireman got beaten. And then, he went to see what was happening.”

Deputy public prosecutor Zhafran Rahim Hamzah asked Suresh why he told his friend that a fireman had been beaten when he did not witness the incident.

“Because I heard the crowd screaming ‘don’t hit, don’t hit’,” said the witness.

“I also heard someone say in Tamil, ‘They want to hit firemen, too’.”

He said he then saw five or six people carrying away Adib, who was wearing only his fireman’s pants.

Narresh, who took the witness stand afterwards, said he, too, heard people urging that firemen should not be harmed.

“The group that went towards the truck said ‘Jangan pukul, itu Bomba, halau mereka, jangan bagi mereka turun’ (Don’t beat them, they’re firemen, chase them away, don’t let them get down).”

The inquest was ordered as there were no conclusive findings in the probe into how Adib was injured during the riots.

Adib was hospitalised for three weeks, and despite regaining consciousness and showing signs of recovery, he died on December 17 due to lung failure.

The inquest resumes on Monday. – February 15, 2019.