'1,001 possibilities' how Adib could have fallen and hit kerb, inquest told

INQUEST | Kuala Lumpur Hospital forensics specialist Dr Ahmad Hafizam Hasmi said today that there were "too many ways" in which firefighter Muhammad Adib Mohd Kassim could have fallen onto a kerb during the Seafield Seri Mahariamman Temple riots last November.

As such, Hafizam told the inquest into Adib's death, it would be a waste of time to perform reconstructions of how the firefighter could have been injured after the fall, as the findings could easily be challenged.

"I don't want to conduct an experiment that can be challenged... I know I cannot prove anything from conducting an experiment on the kerb," he said.

"There are a thousand and one possibilities how he could have fallen. 

"I would only agree if the experiment (reconstruction) was conducted at specific angles."

Lawyer Syazlin Mansor, representing the Fire and Rescue Department and the Housing and Local Government Ministry, had asked the forensics specialist why he did not perform an exact reconstruction of how Adib could have fallen onto the kerb.

In March, Hafizam (photo) testified that Adib's autopsy showed that his injuries were more likely to have been caused by being hit by an Emergency Response Rescue Service (EMRS) as it was reversing.

He said he arrived at this opinion after visiting the scene of the riot in Subang Jaya to reconstruct the sequence of events that led to Adib's injuries.

Read more: No evidence to suggest Adib pulled from van - HKL forensics expert

Syazlin today suggested that based on a similar reconstruction performed by the Fire and Rescue Department, Adib could have fallen and hit the kerb in several positions. 

Hafizam, who was recalled to testify before coroner Rofiah Mohamad again, refuted this.

"I can rule out that the victim had fallen onto the kerb in the positions suggested by Syazlin in the photographs," he said.

Hafizam also clarified that he had not pinpointed the kerb as being the cause of injuries to Adib's chest.

Instead, he said, the kerb was included in his final report as among the various possibilities, as it was a permanent fixture and fit the criteria of being "blunt, hard, wide, a little bit rough and protruding."

Throughout the afternoon session of the inquest today, Syazlin insisted that Hafizam could have omitted the reference to the kerb as a probable cause of Adib's injuries, and instead maintained a general description of the possible objects.

By the end of the hearing, Hafizam agreed with Syazlin's suggestion that he could not confirm the exact object which had caused the injuries to Adib's chest, and which subsequently led to his death.

However, he reiterated his stand that Adib's injuries were not due to being hit by the EMRS van door.

Adib, a member of the Subang Jaya Fire and Rescue Department's EMRS unit, was seriously injured during the Seafield Temple riots last November, and died on Dec 17 at the National Heart Institute.

The inquest will continue into its 36th day tomorrow.

No evidence to suggest Adib pulled from van - HKL forensics expert

Forensic expert demonstrates how Adib was likely hit by EMRS van

There would be two deaths if Adib pulled from van, inquest told

Recalled witness reiterates van door not cause of Adib's injuries