'1,001 possibilities' how Adib could have fallen and hit curb, inquest told

INQUEST | A medical forensic expert today said there were "too many ways" in which the late firefighter Muhammad Adib Mohd Kassim could have fallen onto a curb near the Seafield Seri Mahariamman temple during the night of the riot there last Nov 27.

Given all the possibilities, Kuala Lumpur Hospital forensic expert Dr Ahmad Hafizam Hasmi (above) said it would be a waste of time to perform reconstructions of how Adib could have been injured after the fall as the findings could easily be challenged.

"I don't want to conduct an experiment that could be challenged [...] I know I cannot prove anything from conducting an experiment on the curb.

"There are a thousand and one possibilities how he (Adib) could have fallen," said Ahmad Hafizam to questions from lawyer Syazlin Mansor representing the Fire Services Department as well as the Housing and Local Government Ministry.

"I would only agree if the experiment (reconstruction) was conducted at specific angles," said Ahmad Hafizam in response to Syazlin's questions on why he did not perform an exact reconstruction of how Adib could have fallen onto the curb.

Ahmad Hafizam previously testified that the autopsy done on Adib showed that his injuries were more likely to have been caused by being hit by an Emergency Response Rescue Service (EMRS) as it was reversing.

Testifying as the inquest's 24th witness, Ahmad Hafizam, 40, said in March this was the opinion he arrived at after visiting the scene of the riot at Subang Jaya in December last year to reconstruct the sequence of events that led to Adib's injuries.

Syazlin today suggested that based on a similar reconstruction performed by the Fire Services Department, Adib could have fallen and hit the curb in several positions.

"I can rule out that the victim (Adib) had fallen onto the curb in the positions suggested by Puan Syazlin in the photographs," said Ahmad Hafizam who had been recalled to testify before coroner Rofiah Mohamad.

Ahmad Hafizam also clarified that he had not pinpointed the curb as being the cause of injuries to Adib's chest but rather it was included in his final report on the various possibilities as it was a permanent fixture and fit the criteria of being "blunt, hard, wide, a little bit rough and protruding".

Muhammad Adib Mohd Kassim

Throughout the afternoon session of Day 35 of the inquest today, Syazlin insisted that Ahmad Hafizam could have omitted the reference to the curb as a probable cause of Adib's injuries and instead maintained a general description of the possible objects.

At the end of today's hearing, Ahmad Hafizam agreed with Syazlin's suggestion that he could not confirm the exact object which had caused the injuries to Adib's chest and subsequently which led to his death.

He, however, reiterated his stand that Adib's injuries were not due to being hit by the EMRS van door.

Adib, a member of the Subang Jaya Fire and Rescue Department's EMRS unit, was seriously injured during the Sri Maha Mariamman Temple riot in Subang Jaya last Nov 27 and died on Dec 17 at the National Heart Institute.

The inquest will resume tomorrow, Day 36. - Mkini