Using Batman toy, witness tells how EMRS van may have run over firefighter

INQUEST | Pakistani national Budd Mohsin used a Batman action figure, as well as toy buses and a car, to show how an Emergency Medical Rescue Services (EMRS) van might have run over a firefighter during the Seafield Sri Maha Mariamman Temple riots last November.

Mohsin, who was testifying at the inquest into the death of firefighter Muhammad Adib Mohd Kassim, told Coroner Rofiah Mohamad that he assumed this is what happened when he saw the firefighter falling to the ground after being pinned between the van and a parked vehicle.

Yesterday, the air-cond technician told the Coroner's Court in Shah Alam that during the wee hours of the morning on Nov 27, he saw an FRT (Fire Rescue Tender) truck backing into the EMRS van to escape a mob, and this, in turn, caused the van to reverse, resulting in the firefighter being pinned between the van and a car.

However, Mohsin, who spoke in Punjabi through an interpreter, did not identify the firefighter.

Using the toys, the 24-year-old witness demonstrated to the court how the van purportedly hit the firefighter on his left shoulder, causing him to turn and face the van as he was sandwiched between the two vehicles.

Following this, he said the firefighter collapsed on the road.

“He was 'pushed' (when the van hit his shoulder), then (turned towards the van) and fell down,” he said, using the action figure to indicate how the firefighter laid on the ground.

“I assumed that the tyre (of the van) would have 'gone up' (over the victim) as there was no space (between the moving van and the parked car). But I did not actually see what happened,” he added.

From where he was standing, Mohsin said he could see a crowd in the area where the firefighter collapsed.

“I saw a lot of people where the victim fell. There was a large crowd so I could not see (properly). I heard shouting and saw (people holding mineral water) bottles,” he added.

However, video footage of the incident played in court did not show a firefighter pinned between the two vehicles.

The footage showed the FRT truck and EMRS van reversing when a mob approached them and pelted the vehicles with water bottles.

Speaking to reporters later, lawyer Syazlin Mansor, who is representing Adib's family, said it is not possible for the firefighter to have been pinned between the vehicles as he was still inside the EMRS van.

She showed a screenshot of the EMRS van which was in the process of reversing, with the said firefighter in the passenger seat. - Mkini