Adib’s condition said to be critical, but stable.
Viral footage that purportedly depicts:
- a fire engine reversing into Adib
- people running behind the fire engine, thumping the vehicle to alert the driver that one of his comrades was injured
- a group calming and carrying the injured fireman, placing him onto the back of a pickup truck and appealing to the driver to take him to the nearest hospital
Fire and Rescue Department dismissed allegations Adib was struck by a fire engine instead of demonstrators, claiming the person in the video was:
- another fireman
- wearing a fire-resistant suit while Adib was likely wearing camouflage uniform
Adib after transferring from SJMC to IJM:
- condition still critical, but stable
- recovering well, 70% chance of survival
A video clip purportedly depicting a group helping an injured firefighter, believed to be Muhammad Adib Muhammad Kassim, is going viral.
The video is believed to have been recorded during the Tuesday morning riot near the Sri Maha Mariamman Temple in Subang Jaya.
The two-minute and 16 seconds clip depicts the group trying to calm the injured firefighter and arranging for him to be transported to a hospital.
“You see, this is a Bomba (fire and rescue personnel),” the person recording the video could be heard saying in the background.
Amidst the commotion, a group of men are heard giving instructions on how to carry the firefighter while appealing for the crowd to make way.
Along the way, the men can be heard saying: “Abang (brother) relax, relax, you’re okay, you’re okay.”
At one point, the narrator could be heard saying: “The Malay Bomba, we are helping him, that’s all (we are doing)… You all say we are bad. But we are helping. The police who are here, what are they doing?”
The video clip ends with the men placing the injured firefighter onto the back of a pickup truck and appealing to the driver to take him to the nearest hospital.
The injured firefighter being depicted is most likely Adib, 24, who is currently under intensive care.
According to the authorities, Adib’s chest was crushed. Conflicting claims as to how he sustained injuries have surfaced.
Earlier, the Seafield Sri Maha Mariamman Temple taskforce claimed that Adib was not beaten up, but actually hit by a fire engine.
Taskforce secretary VK Regu said in a press conference on Wednesday (Nov 28) that there are three videos circulating on social media that shows the fire engine reversing suddenly, with Adib directly behind it.
“If you see the video, it shows the fireman being hit by the fire engine as it reversed and he was thrown against a fire rescue van that was behind the fire engine.
“The video also shows that the crowd did not hit the fireman, but actually tried to alert the fire engine to stop and brought the injured fireman to the hospital,” he claimed in a press conference at the temple on Wednesday (Nov 28).
S Ramaji, who heads a faction involved in a dispute over the temple’s relocation said: “Actually what happened was, he went and stood at the back of the fire engine, and the fire engine reversed so fast and hit him onto a car which was at the back.”
“And all the people who were there, they took him, they saved him and put him into a car and sent him to the hospital. We have video evidence here,” Ramaji added.
Regu said some of the temple’s supporters who were there had also tried to help Adib, along with several other demonstrators.
Regu, however, appeared apprehensive when informed of reports that there were swellings on the 24-year-old fireman’s body.
“After the accident, wouldn’t there be swelling? Don’t tell me (it’s) because people hit (him). Even when knocked, there will be swelling too.
“We have video. See here whether the doctor is saying the truth or if this video is the truth. See with your own eyes and decide. Tell the masses,” Regu said.
He also claimed that people were running behind the fire engine, thumping the vehicle to inform the driver that one of his comrades was injured.
Regu said that the temple taskforce has sent the videos to the authorities and urged the police to investigate what actually took place that night.
Meanwhile, it was reported that some Fire and Rescue Department staff said Adib could not have been the person in the video, as that person was wearing a fire-resistant Nomex suit and helmet.
Adib is part of the emergency medical rescue team (EMRS) which would likely mean that he was wearing regular camouflage uniform.
It was also reported that he was seated at the front seat in the EMRS van and did not disembark on his own.
The Fire and Rescue Department Malaysia also dismissed allegations that Adib was struck by a fire engine instead of demonstrators at the temple.
Its director-general Datuk Mohamad Hamdan Wahid explained that the individual seen in the video was instead another fireman, who was dispatched to the scene following an emergency call.
“The person highlighted in the viral video was another fireman who was equipped with firefighting gears.
“That said person is sitting right next to me, here he is,” he said during a press conference at the National Heart Institute (IJN), pointing to firefighter Mohd Hazim Rahimi, 31.
Hamdan explained that Hazim had moved from the fire engine to the emergency medical response service (EMRS) vehicle.
Water, Land and Natural Resources Minister Dr Xavier Jayakumar has called on Malaysians not to speculate but let the police investigate how Adib sustained his injuries.
Adib was first admitted to the intensive care unit of the Subang Jaya Medical Centre (SJMC) after he was injured in the line of duty at around 1am on Tuesday.
He was part of a team of nine firemen responding to a fire at the Seafield Sri Maha Mariamman Temple in USJ 25, where rioters were protesting its relocation.
It was reported that rioters forcefully dragged him out of his vehicle and attacked him causing him to sustain broken ribs, punctured lungs and other internal injuries.
Adib was transferred to the National Heart Institute (IJN) at midnight yesterday.
Housing and Local Government Minister Zuraida Kamaruddin said the decision (to transfer him) was made after a discussion between IJN and the Subang Jaya Medical Centre (SJMC).
“This decision was made after Muhammad Adib showed some positive developments while the equipment at SJMC was not suitable for treatment purposes.
“IJN has a machine, and it is the only machine in the whole of Malaysia that can provide some additional treatment by allowing more oxygen into his lungs.
“By allowing oxygen into his lungs, we hope he can recover faster,” she said after visiting Adib and his family at the medical centre.
“Hence, we decided to transfer Muhammad Adib at around 10.30pm after obtaining his parents’ consent,” she told reporters.
Zuraida said the condition of Adib was reported to be stable after receiving treatment at the intensive care unit (ICU) of SJMC.
“His blood pressure has also improved, though he is currently sedated,” she said.
An ambulance carrying Adib left SJMC at 11.33pm accompanied by medical officers from SJMC and IJN. His parents and family members and several firefighters, arrived at IJN just before midnight.
“The IJN doctors had deployed a life-support machine called Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO) around 1:30am,” Datuk Dr Mohd Nazeri Nordin, a consultant cardiothoracic surgeon and head of IJN’s ECMO Services said in a statement.
The doctors said the procedure was completed around 2.30am.
He explained that the machine provides both circulatory and gas exchange support as Adib had suffered serious chest injuries.
“To date his condition is stable but still in critical state,” IJN said.
In a separate posting on Twitter, Housing and Local Government Minister Zuraida Kamaruddin said she received news that Muhammad Adib is recovering well and now has a 70 percent of survival.
“We received new info on Muhammad Adib. Dr Izani said that he is recovering very well. Passed through the danger zone. If yesterday only 40% chance of survival, now 70%.
“They are still continuing the treatment and now on to the next phase,” she said on her Twitter account.
Adib received a slew of guests today, including Water, Land and Natural Resources minister Xavier Jayakumar, Communications and Multimedia minister Gobind Singh Deo, De facto National Unity and Social Wellbeing minister P Waythamoorthy and Deputy Home Minister Azis Jamman.
Members of MIC, PAS and the Sri Maha Mariamman temple committee also visited him at SJMC.
Related report: Nov 27, Fake Social Media Claims That Injured Fireman Dead