Seafield temple inquest - the subtext

Malaysiakini - '1,001 possibilities' how Adib could have fallen and hit curb, inquest told (extracts)

Muhammad Adib Mohd Kassim 

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 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. [...]

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.

In this sad tragedy, where a fireman died in responding to an emergency at an Indian temple then ablaze, we have in the inquest quite a prolonged tussle between two sides.

The government forensic expert suggested Adib's fatal injuries were more likely to have been caused by being hit by an Emergency Response Rescue Service (EMRS) as the vehicle was reversing.

He also suggested the road shoulder could probably be the most likely cause of injuries to Adib’s right chest and right arm based on the five criteria.

But subsequently under questioning by lawyer Syazlin, he mentioned the road shoulder as one of the five objects that could have caused the injuries.

Lawyer Syazlin, representing the Fire Services Department as well as the Housing and Local Government Ministry, suggested another possibility, of Adib being dragged out of the fire vehicle and whence the victim was hit by an object which had caused the injuries to Adib's chest and which subsequently led to his death.

But was that object a weapon or the reversing EMRS van door or the nearby road curb which Adib might have fallen upon? Dr Ahmad Hafizam admitted he couldn't confirm with certainty the object that hit the victim’s chest causing death.
But the doctor was insistent that the left door of the EMRS van was not the object that caused the injuries.

The tussle seems to be more about apportioning blame than about identifying the  cause of the injuries.

It's about whether Adib was dragged out by persons unknown, perhaps bashed or/and perhaps subjected to an unfortunate chain of events, or whether Adib was hit unwittingly by a frantic reversing EMRS as the mob at the Seafield Seri Mahariamman temple surged towards the first responding vehicles.

There was also another forensic expert with a differing view as to the causes leading to Adib's severe fatal injuries. He was more in line with lawyer Syazlin Mansor's views. 

There is no denying the temple side doesn't want to be blamed for temple rioters killing Adib, whilst Adib's family and the Fire Service Department want some accountability because the fire service is adamant the reversing EMRS did NOT hit Adib.

Kaytee has a different analysis, namely, the tragedy would not have occurred, and Adib would still be alive today, if there was NO fire blazing at the temple and rioters charging towards the fire vehicles.

Sh*t happened when law and order then broke down, in total defiance to a court order.

But I know both sides won't like my simplistic analysis.