Muhammad Adib went missing after attack by rioters, inquest told

SHAH ALAM (Feb 13): Firefighter Ahmad Shahrill Othman told the inquest into the death of his colleague the late Muhammad Adib Mohd Kassim yesterday that he was unaware of what happened to the victim after their Emergency Medical Rescue Service (EMRS) vehicle was attacked by a group of rioters.

“I was unaware of what happened to Adib (Muhammad Adib) then as I only heard loud noises, and the EMRS vehicle I was driving was shaken, hit hard by a group of rioters,” said Ahmad Shahrill.

He said that he did not know where Muhammad Adib was then when the vehicle he was driving swerved to the left when it was hit by the reversing Fire Rescue Tender (FRT) vehicle.

Ahmad Shahrill, who used toy models to explain the situation, also said that he also did not see any weapons used by the rioters in the incident.

“During the incident, when the FRT vehicle was reversing into my vehicle, I did not see Adib and did not hear his voice.

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“Then I kept pressing the accelerator and rushed towards the Subang Jaya district police headquarters (IPD) for help. As I parked the vehicle at the IPD compound I was shocked to see firefighter Hazim coming towards me from the back of the vehicle,” he said on the second day of the inquest.

He then asked Hazim, “Where is Adib? Where is Adib?,” and Hazim replied “I don’t know.”

“A few minutes later, the FRT vehicle also arrived at the IPD, and I did not know how long I was there because it was dark, and I was in panic. Only later I realised one of the rear tyres was punctured, rear view mirror was broken while side mirror was missing and there were crash helmets in the vehicle,” he said.

Ahmad Shahrill said this in his reply to a question from deputy public prosecutor Hamdan Hamzah.

“After the FRT vehicle arrived at the IPD, we made a roll-call, and only then we realised that Adib was not with us. I was thinking that Adib would be in the FRT vehicle,” he said.

When asked by Hamdan on what happened next, Ahmad Shahrill said they could not lodge the police report then as the system was down and the police went to the scene to find Muhammad Adib.

“We tried to call Adib and the calls were answered by members of the public who told us that Adib was taken to the SJMC Hospital.

“We went to the SJMC hospital to visit him, but we could not see him because he was placed in the emergency ward. Our supervisor then lodged a report at the USJ17 police station after I informed him of the incident,” he said.

Muhammad Adib, 24, who was a member of the EMRS from the Subang Jaya Fire & Rescue Station, was seriously injured during the riots at the Seafield Sri Maha Mariamman Temple in USJ 25, Subang Jaya, on Nov 27 last year.

He succumbed to his injuries on Dec 17 last year at the National Heart Institute (IJN).

The inquest, before Judge Rofiah Mohamad who is sitting as the coroner, continues today.