Witness: Diana spoke after crash
The inquest has heard that Diana spoke soon after the car crash
Thursday, 25, Oct 2007 08:03
The inquest into the death of Princess Diana has heard that the princess spoke soon after the car accident which claimed her life in August 1997.
Witness Damian Dalby, who stopped to try and help after noticing the crashed black Mercedes in the tunnel, told the court that he heard Diana say "Oh my God" repeatedly as she lay injured in the back seat of the car.
Another witness Audrey Lemaigre said there was a crowd of photographers taking pictures of the wrecked vehicle when he arrived. She added that some were leaning close to the car, taking photos of the inside with flash guns at the time.
Ms Lemaigre told the court: "I am quite positive none of them tended to any people who may have been in the damaged car. However, one of them was shouting. At one stage he actually said 'She's alive, she's alive'."
She added that photographers were speaking to each other and others around the scene after the crash.
"A man on a scooter stopped beside me. He was on the phone, but I do not know to whom he was speaking. I think he had a camera.
"One of the others with a camera in the underpass came over and spoke to him, and then went back to the scene of the accident," she explained.
Previously the court has heard that a vehicle was attempting to slow down Princess Diana's Mercedes car so that paparazzi could take pictures.
Eyewitness Olivier Partouche told the inquest into the princess' death that a dark car was in front of the royal's vehicle as it entered the Pont d'Alma tunnel in Paris and formed a "compact group" with motorcyclists.
Diana’s lover Dodi al-Fayed and the car’s driver Henri Paul also died in the accident on August 31st, 1997. Previous investigations by the French and British police have stated that the deaths were the result of an accident and not a conspiracy.