SHAH ALAM: The man who drove Muhammad Adib Mohd Kassim to hospital on Nov 27 last year was warned for safety reasons not to enter the area where the injured fireman was.

Mohd Hafizan Nordin said a woman stopped his car near the Seafield Sri Maha Mariamman Temple and told him “adik, adik (little brother), don’t go in or you’ll be beaten up”.

The tenth witness in the inquest into Muhammad Adib’s death said he was in the neighbourhood after fuelling up his car at a nearby petrol station.

“I heard someone shouting for help; at that time I did not know who it was.

“I slowed my car and saw about seven people carrying someone.

“I saw one of them asking people in other cars to help but no one was opening their doors,” he told the coroner’s court yesterday, the sixth day of the inquest.

He then heard someone say, “help, help, there is an injured fireman”.

It was at this time that the woman warned him against going into the area.

“I hesitated, as I was a bit fearful but in the end I got out of my car to help the fireman,” he said.

He said the men placed Muhammad Adib at the back of his four-wheel drive, where another witness, R. Narresh, sat with the injured fireman all through their journey to the Subang Jaya Medical Centre.

Mohd Hafizan and Narresh, who is the ninth witness for the inquest, both said that they noticed that the 24-year-old fireman had injuries on the right side of his body.

Mohd Hafizan, who was an assistant medic while in the army, said that he checked Muhammad Adib’s pulse but it was slow.

“When I helped carry him (into the car), I saw that he had marks on the right side of his body.

“It was from under his armpit until the top of his waist.

“It (the side) was swollen, red and blue.

“I said to him, ‘bang, bang (big brother) open your eyes’ but there was no response,” he said.

Mohd Hafizan said he believed blunt objects caused the injuries.

“Blunt objects hitting him, such as fists,” he said when asked by lawyer Ahmad Taufiq Baharum, who is representing the victim’s family.

Meanwhile, Narresh told the coroner’s court he saw a shoe print and sand on Muhammad Adib’s body as he was wiping the fireman’s body on the way to SJMC.

He also noticed the ribs on the right side of the fireman’s body was swollen.

“It was noticeable, you can see that it was reddish as he had fair skin.

“He was also bleeding from his ears and nose,” he said.

Narresh said he tried to speak to Muhammad Adib who was unresponsive and whose pulse was slowing.

“I said ‘there are people waiting for you, be strong’,” he added.

Earlier, Narresh told the inquest that he stumbled upon Muhammad Adib as he was looking for his friends amidst the commotion.

Seeing his friend S. Suresh (eighth witness) walk out from the crowd, he asked him what had happened.

“He said (in Tamil) that a fireman had been beaten up.

“I then went into the crowd to see what was happening and saw a fireman seated while leaning against the side of a car,” he said, adding that Muhammad Adib was still in his uniform.

He said he also heard people saying in Tamil “even fireman they want to beat up”.

He said that he went near Muhammad Adib and asked the crowd around him to give the fireman space to breathe.

“I told them, don’t go too near, give him space to breathe and I went to find a vehicle (to take him to hospital),” he added.

Narresh said seven men carried Muhammad Adib as he tried to get passing cars to stop.

He finally managed to get Mohd Hafizan to help bring the then unconscious fireman to hospital.

The inquest with Judge Rofiah Mohamad as coroner continues today.

Muhammad Adib, 24, was critically injured when he and his teammates from the Subang Jaya fire station responded to an emergency at the temple where riots were happening last November.

He was taken to SJMC before being transferred to the National Heart Institute (IJN) for further treatment.

He passed away on Dec 17 at 9.41pm at IJN.