Home Minister Muhyiddin Yassin has confirmed that an inquest will be held soon to determine the cause of death of the late fireman Muhammad Adib Mohd Kassim.
Muhyiddin in a Facebook post said he was informed of the matter after consultation with attorney-general Tommy Thomas on the progress of the case.
"The attorney-general has informed me that he will act on his powers as public prosecutor under Section 339(1) of the Criminal Procedure Code to instruct the court conduct an inquest to determine the cause of death.
"The prosecution will apply for the court to set an urgent hearing date and will assist the court in carrying out the inquest," he said, adding that the coroner presiding over the inquest will have wide powers under Section 328 of the CPC to determine the possible cause of death.
"This (power) includes deliberating on the cause of death and whether his death was caused by or accelerated by any actions or inaction by any other party," said the Pagoh MP.
Aside from the attorney-general, Muhyiddin said he was also informed by the police on the progress of ongoing investigations under Section 302 of the Penal Code, the results of which could only be revealed in court.
The 24-year-old was part of a Fire and Rescue Department team that had been deployed in response to vehicles that were torched by rioters near the Sri Maha Mariamman temple in USJ 25, Subang Jaya.
However, the rioters attacked the personnel forcing them to flee.
Authorities claim Adib was dragged out of his vehicle and beaten up, causing him to suffer several broken ribs and injuries to multiple organs. He died from the injuries on Dec 17.
Earlier this week, a new video had emerged, showing a fire truck backed into a Fire and Rescue Department van on the night of Nov 27.
The video showed a fireman heading towards the back of the fire truck, shortly before it reversed, but backtracked.
The fire truck hit the van in a bid to escape rioters smashing at the vehicle but there was no one in between.
An earlier video of the same incident showed a fireman heading towards the back of the fire truck before panning away, shortly before the fire truck reversed.
This has led claims that the fireman was the late Adib and that his injuries were from an accident.
The "hit by fire truck" theory was first raised by the Sri Maha Mariamman Temple committee.
However, the committee's chief Ramaji had since apologised, stating that he had only highlighted the first video for police to investigate and had not intended to cause pain to Adib's grieving family.
