An expert in physics told the inquest into the death of Muhammad Adib Mohd Kassim that the methodologies used by two pathologists in calculating the force that caused injuries to the late fireman were incorrect.
Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) Faculty of Mechanical Engineering senior lecturer Dr Amir Radzi Ab Ghani said forensic expert Dr Ahmad Hafizam Hasmi, from Hospital Kuala Lumpur (HKL), erred by taking into account the weight of Adib and the Emergency Medical Rescue Services (EMRS) van that hit him on Nov 27, 2018.
Amir told the Coroner’s Court that the formula on the calculation of the impact of the blows that caused injuries on Adib submitted by senior forensic pathologist in the United Kingdom, Prof Dr Shahrom Abd Wahid, was more rational.
Amir said that the formula used by Shahrom was more suitable than the one used by Ahmad Hafizam.
“Dr Shahrom focused on the height of the victim’s fall from the EMRS van to the road while Dr Ahmad Hafizam took into account the total weight of the EMRS van, which is not apt because only the door of the EMRS van hit the victim,” he said when testifying in the inquest before Coroner Rofiah Mohamad on the 40th day of the proceedings on Tuesday (July 16).
Amir, the 30th witness in Adib’s inquest proceedings, said the weight of the EMRS van would only be applicable if Adib was directly hit by it.
“In a previous report that I read, it was stated that Muhammad Adib was at the door of the EMRS van, so only the weight of the door should be used to calculate the blows that caused the injury.
“When the crash happened, only the weight of the EMRS door that hit the victim mattered. The van did not play any role,” he added.
He agreed with Shahrom about an experiment that showed Adib did not fall nor was thrown out in the riots at the Sri Maha Mariamman Temple.
Shahrom said the force from the door of the EMRS van was not sufficient to cause the fractures on Adib’s back.
Instead, he said Adib could have been pulled out of the front seat of the EMRS van and kicked, based on the injuries he sustained.
He had also dismissed the possibility of Adib sustaining the fractures to his front right ribs in a fall on the road curb.
However, Shahrom’s theory was rebutted by Ahmad from HKL where Adib’s autopsy was conducted.
Ahmad said he found Shahrom’s calculations inaccurate and used two calculations based on differing speeds at which the van was reversing, both of which revealed that the force was strong enough to cause the fractures.
Over the course of the inquest, Shahrom had said he had only factored in Adib’s weight, without including the weight and speed of the moving EMRS van. This was rubbished by Ahmad.
Amir today, however, said neither the mass of the vehicle nor Adib’s weight needed to be factored in the equation, referring to the second law of Isaac Newton’s theory of motion f = m x a. (f refers to force, m to mass and a to acceleration).
Shahrom had said that a force of 3,300 newtons (N) would have been needed to cause Adib’s injuries. (A newton is a unit of force. One newton is the force required to cause a mass of 1kg to accelerate at a rate of 1m per second squared in the absence of other force-producing effects.)
However, Amir said in order for a force of 3300 N to be achieved, Adib needed to have fallen from a height of 4m.
Lawyers for the housing and local government ministry had called in Shahrom to scrutinise a report by HKL pathologists.
The inquest into Adib’s death was called by the government this year amid conflicting claims as to the cause of the fireman’s death.
The inquest will resume before coroner Rofiah Mohamad tomorrow afternoon.
Earlier reports:
July 5, Adib Inquest: Mechanical Engineer to Resolve Dispute
July 4, Adib Inquest: Probe into Adib’s Injuries Should Have Begun from Day One
July 3, Adib Inquest: Independent Expert Claims HKL Forensics Specialist Used Wrong Methodology
May 18, Adib Inquest: Court to Seek Engineer’s Opinion on Force That Hit Adib
May 16, Adib Inquest: 1,001 Possibilities How Adib Could Have Fallen and Hit Curb
May 16, Adib Inquest: Expert Unable to Pinpoint Cause of Adib’s Injuries
May 15, Adib Inquest: Forensic Expert Demonstrates How Adib Could Have Been Hit by EMRS Van
May 10, Adib Inquest: Recalled Expert Witness Rebuts Theory Adib Was Pulled Out of Van
Apr 30, Adib Inquest: HKL Doctor to Testify Again
Apr 25, Adib Inquest: Specialist Denies Threatening Other Witnesses, Lodges Police Report
Apr 23, Adib Inquest: Forensic Experts Lodge Police Reports over Alleged Threats, Witness Tampering
Apr 22, Adib Inquest: Conducting Officer, Lawyer Clash on Recalling Forensics Expert to Testify
Apr 18, Adib Inquest: Dummy Test Shows Adib Could Have Been Hit by Van Door
Apr 10, Adib Inquest: Witness Says Possible to Drag Adib out of EMRS Van
Mar 30, Adib Inquest: Assumption Adib Assaulted Dismissed After Autopsy
Mar 29, Adib Inquest: Broken Ribs Only Discovered During Autopsy
Mar 28, Adib Inquest: Impossible for Adib to Have Been Dragged Out of Van