FIREFIGHTER Muhammad Adib Mohd Kassim, described as strongly built and was a trained uniformed personnel, would have put up a fight if someone had attempted to drag him out of an Emergency Medical Rescue Services (EMRS) van.

This was the view of Hospital Kuala Lumpur (HKL) forensic medical specialist Dr Ahmad Hafizam Hasmi at the inquest into Adib’s death at the coroner’s court in Shah Alam today.

The inquest aims to determine his cause of death.

It would have taken more than 18 seconds to drag Adib out of the van, Dr Hafizam said in response to questions from lawyer Syazlin Mansor, who is representing the Housing and Local Government Ministry.

Syazlin had earlier asked Hafizam to clarify why he concluded that Adib’s injuries were not from being pulled out of the van.

“The act of pulling someone of sturdy build and is a trained uniformed personnel would have produced more signs of injuries consistent with self-defence or fighting back.

“The act of pulling someone (out of a vehicle) would have taken time. I was shown a 46-second video of the night of the incident in court.

“From the first second (of the video) to the 28th second, the victim was still in the vehicle. We could not see the situation (clearly) as the recording was pointed at the ground.

“If we take into account the 46 seconds and minus 28 seconds, there would have only been 18 seconds (left). Those 18 seconds would have been too brief for any such thing to happen,” he said.

Adib had been part of a response team sent from the Subang Jaya Fire and Rescue Department station on November 27, 2018, to the Seafield Sri Maha Mariamman temple area after a call was received that cars had been set on fire.

He suffered injuries during the riots and died at the National Heart Institute on December 17.

‘Adib exited van voluntarily’

Later in the afternoon, Dr Hafizam continued his testimony to say that there was no medical proof to show Adib was pulled out of the EMRS van.

Dr Hafizam was explaining the possibilities of how Adib could have sustained body injuries on his front and back of his body.

“The situation experienced by the deceased was not ideal (for him to be pulled out of the van). It was chaotic and it was a frantic situation.

“In my post-mortem report, I could not specifically conclude if Adib was pulled out by force or he came out of the van of his own free will.

“However, during this inquest when I was questioned by lawyers and after witnessing the videos and testimonies from others, based on my expertise, I concluded that Adib came out of the van voluntarily,” Dr Hafizam said.

The inquest resumes tomorrow with a new witness. – March 28, 2019.