Contractor: I heard people shouting ‘don’t hit, don’t hit’
SHAH ALAM: A witness told the Coroner’s Court probing the cause of firefighter Muhammad Adib Mohd Kassim’s death that he had heard several people shouting “don’t hit” during a temple riot.
S. Sures, 33, a contractor, said he
“saw someone slumped against the car bumper and it was dark then”.
“I heard the shouts ‘ don’t hit’,” he said when asked by deputy public prosecutor Zhafran Rahim Hamzah, who is also the coordinating officer for the inquest.
The inquest is now in its fifth day of proceeding.
Sures, who is the eighth witness, said he was among the crowd during the riot at the Seafield Sri Maha Mariamman Temple on Nov 27 when he was pushed and fell on a fireman, whom he then identified as Muhammad Adib.
“I fell on his legs. And then, I realised he was a fireman because of what he was wearing,” he added.
Sures then demonstrated to the court how he fell on Muhammad Adib when requested by lawyer Syazlin Mansor, who appeared for the Housing and Local Government Ministry and the Fire and Rescue Department.
He also told the court that during the fall, his right arm was on the road while his left hand was on the car bumper.
“At that time, somebody kicked me on the right shoulder,” he added.
To a question by lawyer Kamaruzaman Abdul Wahab, who is holding a watching brief for Muhammad Adib’s family, Sures said he fell after being pushed from the back.
Kamaruzaman: Do you know who kicked you? Sures: I did not see. Kamaruzaman: Kicked you once? Sures: Yes.
Kamaruzaman: Did anyone in the crowd say the victim was hit by a vehicle? Sures: No.
To a question by Zhafran, Sures said he assumed that the firefighter had been assaulted because he heard people in the crowd saying so, adding that he then told his friend, R. Narresh, who was nearby.
Zhafran: Why did you tell Narresh that a fireman was assaulted?
Sures: I heard people say “don’t hit, don’t hit”.
After the incident, Sures said he and his friends went to a hospital in Subang Jaya where the fireman had been sent for treatment.
The proceeding before Coroner Rofiah Mohamad continues on Monday.