Medical expert: Adib's injuries more likely due to being hit by vehicle
INQUEST | Deceased fireman Muhammad Adib Mohd Kassim's injuries on the night of the Seafield Sri Maha Mariamman temple riots on Nov 27 last year were not consistent with him being beaten, said medical forensics specialist Dr Ahmad Hafizam Hasmi.
Ahmad Hafizam, attached to the Kuala Lumpur Hospital (HKL), told Coroner Rofiah Mohamad that the HKL autopsy done on Adib showed that the injuries were more likely to have been caused by him being hit by the Emergency Response Rescue Service (EMRS) as it was reversing.
INQUEST | Deceased fireman Muhammad Adib Mohd Kassim's injuries on the night of the Seafield Sri Maha Mariamman temple riots on Nov 27 last year were not consistent with him being beaten, said medical forensics specialist Dr Ahmad Hafizam Hasmi.
Ahmad Hafizam, attached to the Kuala Lumpur Hospital (HKL), told Coroner Rofiah Mohamad that the HKL autopsy done on Adib showed that the injuries were more likely to have been caused by him being hit by the Emergency Response Rescue Service (EMRS) as it was reversing.
He was replying to inquest coordinating officer Hamdan Hamzah who asked him what may have caused the injuries on Adib which ultimately took his life.
“In my opinion, the deceased pattern of injuries was not consistent with being hit. The thorax injury is not blunt force trauma due to being beaten or kicked.
“There were no marks on the face, abdomen, upper or lower body that are consistent with being beaten or due to self-defence,” he told the inquest into Adib's death being conducted by the Coroner's Court on Shah Alam.
Ahmad Hafizam, 40, said this was the opinion he arrived at after visiting the scene of the riot at Subang Jaya in December last year to reconstruct the sequence of events that led to Adib's injuries.
He said his conclusion that the EMRS van played a role in Adib’s injuries was aided by an examination of the scene of the riot as well as hearing the testimony of the van's driver who said that Adib was not in the vehicle when it reversed and hit another car on the night of the riots.
Ahmad Hafizam said in his opinion, Adib, 24, may have exited the van in a hurry at the scene when the vehicle suddenly reversed, causing its open back door to hit the fireman on the left side of his body.
He said Adib’s injury on the left side his back was consistent with being hit by the back by the van’s left rear door frame which was hard and straight.
He said Adib may have then been thrown forward by the impact causing him to sustain injuries to his right rib cage when he hit against a hard object in front of him.
Ahmad Hafizam said that Adib could have been standing with his back towards the van when it reversed suddenly.
“The impact from the EMRS (left) rear door may have caused the victim to be flung forward before he skidded against a hard surface such as a road curb or another hard structure, causing thorax injury.
“The impact on his chest was very strong due to being pushed (from the back) by the EMRS van’s rear door after he had exited the vehicle.
“I cannot determine whether he had exited the EMRS (van) himself or was taken out by another person.
“Until stronger evidence surfaces and based on the pattern of injury, I do not discount the possibility that the deceased may have been sandwiched between two hard objects,” he said.
Ahmad Hafizam said the impact on Adib’s back by the van would have flung the deceased forward and caused his chest to impact against a blunt and wide object.
He said afterwards, Adib would have fallen onto the road and this was consistent with the injuries to his right knee and left elbow.
Ahmad Hafizam said Adib’s thorax injury alone was so severe that it would have been enough to cause death with any treatment received at best only prolonging his life.
"I also do not rule out the possibility that he may have been squeezed (between the van and a parked car)," he said in reply to Hamdan.
After the court played back a smartphone-recorded video showing an FRT (First Rescue Tender) truck and EMRS van reversing to escape an angry crowd on the night of the riots, Ahmad Hafizam said that there was a possibility that Adib may have been hit by the van’s door in a very rapid sequence of events.
“If he (Adib) had exited the EMRS (van), he (may have been) hit on the body (by the van's left rear door) within less than 10 seconds.
“The possibility is there as long as the object was a hard and blunt object such as the surface of a car or a road curb as well as any other object at the scene,” he said.
Previously, another witness Pakistani national Budd Mohsin, 24, who was at the scene of the riots, testified that he saw a fireman being hit from the back by the reversing EMRS van, causing him to be squeezed between it and a parked car.
However, he did not identify the said fireman.
The court fixed Tuesday next week for the inquest to resume with Ahmad Hafizam continuing his testimony.
Adib passed away on Dec 17 at 9.41pm at the National Heart Institute after succumbing to injuries sustained on the night of the riots. The inquest was ordered after two conflicting versions of his cause of death emerged.
One version claimed he was hit by a vehicle while the other said he was beaten up by a mob.
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