of the accident, in one of the first sheet included in the dossier of the French judicial inquest, it is written: âThe Mercedes at full speed collided accidentally against the pillar n° 13 of the Alma Tunnel in Paris; consequently Dodi Al Fayed died about ten minutes after the crash, while his driver Henri Paul was drunk and was killed instantly. Following the crash, rescue came after about half an hour or, as stated by some, the ambulance arrived after 14 minutes. TV crews instead,were on the scene of the accident after just seven minutes from the impact.
Lady Diana Spencer was taken to the ER of the hospital Pitiè-Salpêtrière of Paris and after having surgery and being embalmed, she was declared dead, shortly afterwards, at 4:05 am of that same morning.
The only survivor of that accident is the young Trevor Rees-Jones that, badly injured, was subjected to intensive care in the same hospital. This agent of the security of the Al Fayed family was probably the only one that had fastened the safety beltâ.
Let's see the personal testimony of Dr. Frèdèric Maillez, who found himself on the place two minutes after the crash. His deposition has been an integral part of the French inquest, information that he has repeated to the newspaper âThe Scotsmanâ on 09/29/1997:
«Princess Diana was still alive after the crash, she was sitting on the floor between the two rear seats of the vehicle when I approached her, she had her back turned to me. She could move, she was lying semi-conscious badly injured, she was in shock, complaining for the pain, without a doubt she had some serious internal bleeding. The external appearance of Diana was essentially ordinary, without wounds, with no trauma or serious damage visible. In my opinion the Princess could have been saved, however she needed to be urgently taken to the hospital for surgery».
1997 Sunday, August 31, 12:27 am: Two agents of the nearby team VIII Arrondissement of Paris arrive on the place of the crash. They entered the tunnel right after being alerted by some pedestrians.
1997 Sunday, August 31, 12:31 am: Some TV crews have already arrived in the underpass. The French Agency AFP Agence France-Presse broadcasts the news: «A few minutes ago, Princess Diana of England has been severely injured in a car accident under the Alma tunnel in Paris. Police headquarters have confirmed that, by her side in the crashed vehicle, there was also an Arabian Prince who was badly injured. Right now the police commissioner of Paris, Philippe Massoni, and the chief of the Investigative Police, Patrick Riou, are on the site of the accident.
According to the earliest information, a group of photojournalists and paparazzi, on board of cars and motorcycles, were chasing the car carrying the two princes, these journalists would be the cause and directly responsible for the serious accident».
1997 Sunday, August 31, 12:37 am: There is a lot of confusion under the Alma tunnel. Among a bustle of onlookers on the crash site, other journalists, photographers and several radio stations progressively appear, including CNN. The police, however, have already secured the perimeter in both exits, at least 30 meters away from the crumpled Mercedes. Apparently all the rescuers are present (firemen), but the medical help ambulance has not arrived yet.
1997 Sunday, August 31, 12:38 am: Diana is still inside the Mercedes, she is deeply agitated, suffering and moving her head left to right, softly groaning and whispering sentences in English.
1997 Sunday, August 31, 12:39 am: At this time the first ambulance of SAMU (Service Aide Mèdicale Urgente) arrives on the place of the accident. During rescue, Diana will be the third person to be taken from the semi-curled Mercedes before being hospitalized in the ambulance n° 75. Dodi's corpse is placed in another ambulance before her. Then also Henri Paul's corpse is removed and placed in a second ambulance.
The remains of Dodi and Henri Paul are brought at the legal-medical Institute in Paris. It is said that this morgue, located in Quai de la Rapèe, offers a prestigious legal reports service. This is a place where many corpses are kept, awaiting for an autopsy or for their identification. The structure has a large capacity for maintaining dead bodies of all sort: suicides, dead on the public street, road accidents and deceased for many other circumstances.
The night of August 30/31 1997, there were 23 corpses at the morgue of Paris (other journalists mentioned 24) waiting to be subjected to an autopsy. Among these corpses there was also that of a man who had committed suicide with gas and the dead body of another man suffering from cirrhosis, with his liver crushed by alcohol. The remains of Dodi and Henri Paul are among these cadavers. The doctor and head of this legal-medical Institute is Professor Dominique Lecomte.
Regarding the assistance offered by doctors in favour of Princess Diana, from the moment of the rescue onward, news will reflect an escalation of mysteriousness, poor health care and amateurism that involved an entire team of medical rescuers and hospital specialists.
1997 Sunday, August 31, 12:40 am: Philippe Boyer, Sergeant fireman of the Malar barracks, located about 300 meters from the tunnel, has been on the place of the accident for about 5 minutes. He starts working, focusing on the assistance of those who are rescuing Diana.
The Princess, more and more restless, is about to be pulled out of the vehicle. Boyer commented: «Lady Diana did not seem to have exaggerated breathing difficulties. Her pulse rate was good, she could move her left leg and left arm, her right arm was broken and stuck backwards. She was trying get her back up and she was constantly moving her head, groaning and mentioning words in the English language. Of the expressions she whispered, the only word I could understand was: âMy God! My God! My God!â...». Yes, the last words expressed by Diana were, for three times: âMy Godâ.
1997 Sunday, 31 August, 12:43 am: Before being extracted from the Mercedes, Diana was moving violently, almost as if she did not want to be touched, she seemed to want to hinder any kind of medical assistance. The two paramedics of the ambulance No. 75, responsible of the first aid given to the Princess were: Dr. Arnaud De Rossi (SAMU coordinator) and Dr. Jean-Marc Martino (specialist in anaesthetic and reanimation). At that time Dr. Martin, based on the weight of Diana and her clinical status, gave her a sedative injection containing Hypnovel-2mg and Fentanyl-150 mg (a narcotic analgesic to induce loss of consciousness and alleviate the pain).
According to what was referred by Dr. De Rossi: «Diana calmed down immediately after, so it was possible to remove her from the wreckage of the Mercedes». Then, inside the ambulance, she was given a drip, but since Diana was moving energetically, doctors had to immobilize her by force to be able to introduce the needle in the vein of her arm. The opinion on the diagnosis, according to Dr. De Rossi was: «Young woman, unconscious, with a locked arm and blurring of sensory faculties».
1997 Sunday, 31 August, 12:44 am: Dr. Martino, says in his statement: «Diana sometimes shouted some words in English, they were understandable but they lacked logic and consistency. Not understanding the English language I would not know what she meant».
The fact that happened from this moment on, may have been the cause that killed the Princess. The ambulance, at this moment, should have left with urgency for the closest hospital to the Alma tunnel, but this does not happen.
The ambulance does not leave at all. Many years after the crash, Francis Gillery, author of the book Lady died, questioned Professor Phillippe Dartevelle, French doctor specialized in thoracic and vascular surgery. Dartevelle confirmed to Gillery an analysis already published by journalists of the âTime Magazineâ and then quoted in the book by two Americans, Scott McLeod and Thomas Sancton, who asked: «Why wasn't Diana immediately transferred to a hospital, as you do in the United States?» Dr. Dartevelle said «The only chance to save the Princess was her urgent transfer to a surgical facility» and he added: «In a SAMU van, means for Intensive Care are very limited. In a case like this, you need
