Close to RM300,000 donated to Adib's next-of-kin

Close to RM300,000 has been donated to the next of kin of slain firefighter Muhammad Adib Mohd Kassim.

The RM298,755 was donated through the Fire and Rescue Department's Red Heroes Fund.

The sum consists of firefighter welfare benefits (RM256,356), and contributions from the Housing and Local Government Ministry (RM12,158); Fire and Rescue Department (RM11,241), and the Eco World Foundation (RM10,000).

The funds were handed over at a ceremony at the Fire and Rescue Department headquarters in Putrajaya today.

Adib was part of the Fire and Rescue Department team deployed in response to vehicles being torched by rioters outside the Sri Maha Mariamman temple in USJ 25 in Subang Jaya, on Nov 27.

According to the police, the 24-year-old was dragged out of the vehicle and assaulted.

Adib had succumbed to his injuries at the National Heart Institute (IJN) in Kuala Lumpur last week.

Meanwhile, Housing and Local Government Minister Zuraida Kamaruddin said the inquest into Adib's death should proceed.

"I think that was a decision by the Home Ministry after taking into account the preliminary investigation and such.

"They felt it was appropriate for there to be an inquest. So we let it be, let the inquest go on. Any findings will be announced by the magistrate," Zuraida said.

She was responding to criticism from the Malaysian Muslim Lawyers Association which questioned the move to hold an inquest.

The association's president Zainul Rijal Abu Bakar said it showed a lack of certainty on attorney-general Tommy Thomas regarding Adib's cause of death.

Previously there were theories that Adib's injuries were due to being crushed between a fire truck and the van he was supposed to be in.

This theory has been debunked through video evidence. - Mkini