SHAH ALAM: A footprint was seen on the right side of the abdomen of fire fighter Muhammad Adib Mohd Kassim, the coroner’s court was told today.
R. Narresh, who was the ninth witness in the inquest into the death of Adib, said he saw bruises and a reddish spot near Adib’s right rib when he was taken to the Subang Jaya Medical Centre (SJMC) on Nov 27.
“I was about to clean the area with his (fireman’s) shirt as I thought he was bleeding at that time.
“When I took another look, I saw marks of a footprint. I wipe it off and it disappeared.
“It was a straight line and I thought it was a mark from the Mitsubishi Storm (cargo) basket’s floor.
“However, when I think again, I do not think it was from the car as the mark was different,” he said when questioned by deputy public prosecutor Hamdan Hamzah.
He said Adib was unconscious and was choking when he was en route to SJMC and his pulse was not stable.
“He has fair skin, so I could see clearly that his right ribs were swollen and reddish, there were scratches on his face and his nose and ears were bleeding.”
Earlier, Narresh, who is also a volunteer of the Malaysia Civil Defence Force (APM), said he saw Adib’s was sitting by the roadside clutching his stomach and was surrounded by a crowd.
“I saw my friend among the crowd and he told me that the fireman had been beaten by the mob.
“I rushed into the circle and saw the fireman wearing orange camouflage uniform sitting and leaning on a car’s bumper holding his abdomen.
“The crowd was just standing and taking pictures of the fireman without doing anything to help him.
“As a APM volunteer, I know the person is suffering and I needed to take him to the hospital as soon as possible,” he said, adding that he told the crowd to make some space for Adib as he (Narresh) was about to find transportation.
Narresh said he failed to find any transport to take Adib to hospital and returned to the scene to check on him.
He said the crowd had taken off Adib’s uniform, t-shirt, belt, and shoe, and asked several people to carry Adib to look for transport again.
“I ran about 250 metres before I approached a Mitsubishi Storm trying to make a U-Turn nearby.
“I told the driver, Mohd Hafizam Nordin, that a fireman was in distress and asked him if he could drive to the nearest hospital. He said he would.
“I jumped on to the back of the vehicle while receiving Adib from the group. I folded his uniform to support the head,” he said.
The 30-year-old technician said Adib was unconscious during the trip.
Hamdan: What did you do?
Narresh: I tried to talk to him and was proding his shoulder to wake him. I said to him ‘we are going to take you to the hospital soon’. I also asked for his name but he was not responding.
Hamdan: Did you do anything during the trip?
Narresh: Yes. I searched his pocket and found Adib’s handphone as it was ringing. I took the call and told the caller that his friend was injured and we were en route to SJMC.
He said as soon as they arrived, Narresh asked for a stretcher and told the nurses Adib was a fireman and he needed help.
“The hospital asked for his identification card and insurance card but I did not have it.
“I told them ‘he is a fire fighter and his life is in danger, please help him,’” he said.
Narresh said he stayed at the hospital until 4am and meet Adib’s brother Mohd Ashraf to hand over the former’s handphone personally.
“I went back around 4.30am when I heard that his breathing was back to normal,” he said.
It was claimed that Adib, 24, died from severe injuries sustained after he was allegedly assaulted by rioters at the Sri Maha Mariamman temple in Subang Jaya on Nov 27.
He had been part of an emergency response team dispatched to the scene to douse a vehicle which had been torched.
Despite showing signs of recovery while being treated at the National Heart Institute, Adib died on Dec 17.