Low Yat riot victim recounts nightmare (VIDEO)

KUALA LUMPUR, July 15 — Three young men on their way home on Sunday night took an unfortunate turn that landed their vehicle in the middle of a crowd rioting over the Low Yat Plaza incident on Sunday.

Recounting the terror of the attack that left him and his friend bruised and battered, Patrick Lim said he was driving home with his friends early Monday morning after supper when they got stuck in the mob gathering near Berjaya Times Square.

“I saw one gang of Malays, I saw them staring at us, because my car does not have auto-lock so I never lock my car... one of them straightaway opened my car (door) when I drove past them and asked me whether I am Chinese and where I lived,” said the 21-year-old graduate who was using his relative’s car.

Low Yat riot victim Patrick Lim says the car he was driving was badly damaged when it was attacked by a mob on Sunday night. — Pictures by Siow Feng Saw

Lim said when he answered that he lives in nearby Ampang, he was punched and the group proceeded to attack him and his friends. The group also damaged his car with hammers and motorcycle helmets, among other things.

“My friend who was sleeping in the back got pulled out and they kept beating and punching him, then me and another friend, we keep covering our heads, we got seatbelts so difficult to pull us out,” he added.

Lim said there were about 100 people during the incident and the assault lasted more than 10 minutes before the police arrived and rescued them, but he could not recall if the police were present when the attack began.

Lim and his friend who sat in front were discharged from hospital yesterday, but the friend who was dragged out of the back remains in hospital where he is scheduled to receive surgery for his wounds.

Lim lodged a police report after he got out of hospital.

Patrick Lim and his friends were badly hurt after the attack by the mob last Sunday night.

The weekend’s riots came after a 22-year-old man was reportedly handed to the police for allegedly stealing a mobile phone on Saturday, after which his accomplice contacted their friends who then assaulted workers from a mobile phone store and caused an estimated RM70,000 in damage.

Rumours had spread on social media after the alleged theft that the Chinese trader had sold the Malay man a counterfeit phone, leading to calls for boycotts of “cheating” Chinese traders and the complex itself.

More than two dozen people have been arrested over the initial incident and subsequent riots.