Adib Still In Emrs Van During Temple Riots Inquest Told

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Firefighter Muhammad Adib Mohd Kassim was still in the Emergency Medical Rescue Services (EMRS) vehicle he was assigned to when chaos erupted at the Seafield Sri Mahamariamman temple grounds last November

Ahmad Shahril Othman, the third witness in the inquest to determine Adib's cause of death, said he was behind the wheel of the van at the time of the incident
"Arwah (Adib) was (sitting) next to me. He was still communicating with me
"We saw another officer exiting the fire truck to extinguish a fire... We said, 'Hazim got out so quickly'," he told the Coroners Court in Shah Alam
Hazim was identified as one of the firefighters deployed from the Subang Jaya Fire and Rescue Department, who arrived on site at 1.12am to extinguish a burning car across from the temple
"I saw that before he (Hazim) managed to take out the hose reel, he was attacked
"After that, I did not see him anymore. I do not know where he went," said Shahril, adding the crowd had come from the front and both sides of the fire truck
The inquest earlier heard how a crowd of about 50 people had surged towards the fire truck
Shahril noted that a few individuals had also moved to attack the EMRS van positioned just 2m behind the fire truck
"In that chaos, the fire truck suddenly reversed and knocked my (EMRS van) front
"At the same time, there was a group wearing helmets who wanted to attack the door from my (driver's) side. "They knocked on the door with their helmets, asking me to open the door," he said
Fire truck driver Md Eliza Mohd Noor, the inquest's second witness, continued his testimony after the lunch break, and confirmed that Hazim had exited the fire truck and attempted to take out the hose reel to put out the burning car
Both vehicles eventually left the scene and headed towards the USJ8 police station
Upon arrival, Eliza said he was alerted to Shahril informing his supervising officer that Adib was no longer in the EMRS van
"We then tried to call Adib several times, but nobody picked up
"After about 15 to 20 minutes, we received a call (on Adib's phone) and the person told us that Adib is being taken to SJMC (Ramsay Sime Darby Subang Jaya Medical Centre)," said Eliza, adding that their team was immediately instructed to head to the hospital
The inquest continues into its second day tomorrow with a site visit to the temple grounds, led by Coroner Rofiah Mohamad and the legal team. - Mkini

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