‘FIREMAN IN VIDEO CLIP WASN’T ADIB’
Fireman seen standing behind FRT vehicle in viral video was Adib’s colleague, cop tells inquest
POLICE have confirmed that the firefighter who was seen standing behind a Fire Rescue Truck (FRT) vehicle in a viral video of a riot outside the Sri Maha Mariamman temple in Subang Jaya on Nov 27 last year, was not Muhammad Adib Mohd Kassim.
Assistant Superintendent of Police Lew Keng Joe, testifying at the inquest into Adib’s death, told the Coroner’s Court that the firefighter was later identified as Adib’s comrade, Mohd Hazim Mohd Rahimi.
“According to our investigation, the fireman was later identified as Hazim as the video
showed him wearing a fire jacket and safety helmet, which was not worn by Adib on the night of the incident.
“Hazim, who travelled with the FRT, rushed to its rear to start pulling the hose to put out the fire but later escaped via the Emergency Medical Response Service (EMRS) vehicle when the mob began attacking them.
“Based on statements recorded, Adib was only wearing a firefighter’s shirt and orange-camouflage trousers as he was assigned as a member of the EMRS unit,” he said when questioned by deputy public prosecutor Fatin Hadni Khairuddin.
Fatin Hadni had posed questions to Lew after showing a 22second video clip of the collision between the FRT and the EMRS vehicles, where a fireman, wearing a fireproof jacket and a helmet, was spotted standing in between the vehicles.
Hazim, who was also the sixth witness, had told the court on Feb 14 that he was assigned as the “nozzle man” for the particular operation.
He said he ran towards the EMRS van and got into it through its left sliding door when one of the rioters chased him.
Earlier, seven videos of the incident were shown during the proceedings in the presence of all Adib’s comrades, as well as the inquest’s ninth witness, R. Narresh, who rescued Adib by bringing him to the Ramsay Sime Darby Medical Centre.
A reenactment video of the incident was also shown in court, which described the possibility of how Adib had sustained his serious injuries based on information given by the forensic team who had conducted the post-mortem examination.
Lew, who is the inquest’s 28th witness and the case investigating officer, said the police are still trying to identify the suspects who attacked the FRT.
“There are images of those who attacked the FRT that we captured from video footage but the quality was very poor, making it hard for us to identify them.
“However, we gathered slightly better (quality) footage and I have sent it to our forensic team,” he said.
Lew said he was unaware that Adib’s father had initially refused a post-mortem to be conducted before being consulted by several parties, including Housing and Local Government Minister Zuraida Kamaruddin.
Adib, 24, died from severe injuries after he was allegedly assaulted by rioters outside the temple on Nov 27 last year.
The firefighter was part of an emergency response team dispatched to the scene to put out a vehicle fire.
He died on Dec 17 at the Institut Jantung Negara (IJN).
The proceedings were adjourned and will continue on April 9.