Partial 'shoe' print seen on Adib's ribcage, witness tells inquest

INQUEST | A dusty print in the shape of five straight lines, believed to be from a shoe, was seen on the right ribcage of a firefighter injured at the Seafield Seri Mahariamman temple riot scene last November 27.

Civil Defence Force trainee Narresh Rajandran said he identified the mark upon closer inspection of the firefighter's body, while they were on the way to the hospital at the back of a Mitsubishi Storm pick-up truck.

"He is fair, but near his ribs on the right side, there was a bruise... reddish mark.

"Because he's fair so I could see," said Narresh, the ninth witness in the inquest to determine firefighter Muhammad Adib Mohd Kassim's cause of death.

"I saw the red marks and I had his clothes on standby in case of any bleeding.

"But when I looked at his body closely, there was bits of sand and a 'shoe print' on his right rib," said Narresh who earlier narrated how he rushed off to find help after being told by a friend, the inquest's eighth witness N Suresh, that there was an injured firefighter at the scene.

Narresh said he went to the scene that night with six other friends, following a Facebook post on incidents at the temple.

To questions from inquest conducting officer Hamdan Hamzah on the firefighter's condition, Naresh said he had difficulties breathing, was non-responsive, and his pulse was unsteady.

"I checked his pulse and it was dropping... I cannot do CPR because it was high risk," he said.

Narresh said he first spotted the injured firefighter still fully dressed in an orange camouflage uniform and surrounded by a crowd of about 10 to 15 people who were mostly taking photos and videos.

Narresh said he left to find someone who could take the firefighter to a hospital, but failed the first time.

He then ran back to check on the firefighter a second time and found a larger crowd of 20 to 30 people, and that the firefighter was left only with his camouflage pants.

At that point, Narresh said he instructed about six to seven people to lift the firefighter while he ran ahead about 200m from the scene and eventually found the Mitsubishi Storm driver who was willing to assist him.

[More to follow] - Mkini