A WITNESS told the Coroner’s Court today that he saw bruises and a shoe print on Muhammad Adib Kassim’s right rib when he accompanied the firefighter to hospital last November.

R. Narresh said he was with Adib in a pick-up truck as the firefighter was rushed to hospital during the riots at the Seafield Sri Maha Mariamman.

“I noticed thick lines on his rib cage. There was also redness in the area where the lines were, which led me to believe that there was some form of internal bleeding,” he said.

“Upon further inspection of the area, a shoe print was immediately recognisable. The lines definitely resembled a shoe print.

“He (Adib) was faired skin, and the shoe print was very visible.”

When lawyers asked him whether it was bruising on the skin or dust that caused the footprint, Narresh said it was dust and sand.

“As I was inspecting the right rib, I saw the dusty shoe print, without thinking twice, I brushed it away to inspect the area which was getting redder.”

The 30-year-old technical member of a film crew was continuing his testimony today said he also heard people saying firemen should not be harmed.

“There was a group that went towards the (fire) truck shouting ‘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).”

Narresh said when he got to Adib, the fireman was slumped on the front of a car.

“He was clutching his chest, there was a crowd around him,” he told the court.

“I pushed through the crowd and noticed no one was helping Adib, they were all standing around talking and taking photos and videos with their phones,” said Narresh who also told the court he trained in basic cardio-pulmonary resuscitation techniques. 

He said Adib was still in uniform at the time.

“I knew I had to get help for him. I immediately told the crowd to make way to let air through because it was stuffy,” he said, adding that he then left Adib to get help. 

He said he then heard murmurs in the crowd in Tamil: “Even the fireman they want to beat.”

“My thought at that time was to get him to a hospital. I ran back to where Adib was and saw that his uniform and his undershirt were removed. He was lying there with only his pants on.”

Narresh said he then got six to seven people from the crowd to help carry the firefighter.

“We linked our hands together and let him lie on top like a stretcher, we carried him like that out of the crowd,” he said.

“At that time a Mistubishi Storm pick-up truck was trying to make a U-turn and leave the area. I ran in front and stopped the truck.

“I asked the driver, Mohamad Hafizan Nordin, if he could help me rush the firefighter to hospital. 

“He immediately opened the back of his pick-up, which is called a basket, and I got inside and helped the others get Adib in,” Narresh said.

Only three of them were in the pick-up – the driver, Adib and Narresh.

“Adib was choking and gasping for air, I was also checked his pulse, which was dropping. He could not speak,” Narresh said.

“His face was pale, his ribs on the right were bruised, there was nothing on his hands,” said Narresh, explaining that there no bruises, marks or bleeding on Adib’s hands and other parts of the body.

The inquest at the Shah Alam High Court before coroner Rofiah Mohamad was ordered as there were no conclusive findings in the probe into how Adib was injured during the riots in November. 

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

Also present at today’s proceedings was Minister of Housing and Local Government Zuraida Kamaruddin. – February 18, 2019.