SHAH ALAM, Feb 13 — A motorist who stopped near the site of the Sri Maha Mariamman riots last year told a Coroner’s Court today he saw a fireman sitting at the roadside and holding his chest on the night Muhammad Adib Mohd Kassim was allegedly attacked.

The fourth witness into the death inquest of Adib, Amirrul Adli M. Yussli, 26, said he stopped to see the cause of the commotion, which he described as hundreds of people gathered around a burning car near the Seafield Sri Maha Mariamman temple.

He explained that he rushed to his car after it had been rammed by other cars that collided with the fire engine that night.

"I was checking on my car when I saw the fireman sitting on the curb, and clutching his chest several metres away from me.

"There were several people helping him, some of whom said he was losing consciousness.

"Several more people then started gathering, and when I asked what happened to him, one of them said he was assaulted,” Amirrul told the inquest.

When asked, Amirrul said he did not see visible bruising on the fireman but that it was apparent the person was in pain.

He described that night as chaotic and deafening, with some in the crowd consuming alcohol.

Amirrul was answering DPP Fatin Hadni Khairuddin and Muhammad Adib’s family lawyer, Mohd Kamaruzaman A Wahab, during the inquiry.

Coroner Rofiah Mohamad Mansor is presiding over the inquiry.

Amirrul said when he first reached the scene, there was a car already in flames with people shouting around it.

He described how when firemen arrived several minutes later, the mob turned violent on the rescue workers and demanded they leave the scene while throwing objects at the fire engines.

The fire engine then backed up, knocking into several cars, with the reverberating impact causing Amirrul’s car to get knocked out of its position.

Amirrul said he could not send Muhammad Adib to the hospital as his vehicle was badly damaged.

"Then I saw several men carry the fireman away, and that was the last I saw of him,” he said.