SHAH ALAM, Feb 18 — The sandy imprint of a shoe was seen on the right rib cage of injured fire fighter Muhammad Adib Mohd Kassim when he was rushed to hospital on the night of the Sri Maha Mariamman temple riot in Subang Jaya last November.
R. Narresh told the Coroner’s Court here, where an inquest into Adib’s death is being heard, that he noticed the mark as he cradled the wounded fireman’s head at the back of the pickup truck as they were en route to the hospital.
“I was checking his body for wounds or if he was bleeding, but there were not open wounds on his body or face.
“Later, I noticed what seemed like a sandy shoe print mark on the right side of his ribcage,” he testified under questioning from government counsel Hamdam Hamzah.
Narresh is the ninth witness in the inquest presided by Coroner Rofiah Mohamad Mansor.
Also present during the inquest were Muhammad Adib’s family lawyers Mohd Kamaruzaman A Wahab, Ahmad Taufiq Baharum, and Syazlin Mansor.
The 30-year-old witness had told the inquest last Friday that he and six friends were at the scene of the fracas to support the Hindu temple faction that was against relocating their place of worship after seeing the situation there through a Facebook post.
Narresh, who told the court he was trained in basic first-aid treatment, said Adib was unresponsive throughout the journey to the hospital, and his pulse was slowing.
“He was fair skinned, so I could see other bruises on his body as it was obvious against his light complexion,” he said.
“Among the methods of first aid is to talk to the victim, but he was not responding at all, had his teeth clenched down hard, and was having difficulty breathing.
“But I continued talking to him until we reached the hospital, told him I would pray for him, right up to when they wheeled him onto the treatment table,” he said.
Earlier, Narresh related how he had run the entire stretch of the affected section of the highway twice in search of a car to ferry the injured fireman to the hospital.
“The first time I saw the fireman, he was sitting slumped over on the pavement leaning against a car, not moving, and people there were not helping but snapping photos and videos of the situation.
“Then I left to search for a car and when I returned for the second time, the fireman, who was fully dressed previously, was now only in his fireman pants, without his shirt, shoes or belt,” he said.
Narresh said he later found a man driving a Mitsubishi Storm pickup truck who agreed to send the injured fireman to the Subang Jaya Medical Centre (SJMC).
He added once at the hospital, he made sure medical attention was given to Muhammad Adib, and that he had passed all his personal belongings to the fireman’s brother before leaving.
