From L'Express
June, 25 1998.
Original in French.
 (p 48 ff)

Based on Enquête sur la mort de Diana,
By Jean-Marie Pontaut and Jérome Dupuis
Copyright 

Translated By Alan Hope
 

Stéphane Darmon, partner of Romuald Rat, arrives at scene of crash on
motorcycle (mounted two-up with Rat):

“I saw the car [the Mercedes] in the tunnel, jammed up against the
right-hand wall. I took a rapid decision to overtake. I drove over glass
shards, and stopped 10 metres further on. Romuald got off immediately and
went in the direction of the car.”

Romuald Rat, photographer:

“Whe I got off the bike I left my helmet down. I told Stéphane to go on a
bit with the bike, and I ran towards the car. At that point I saw it was a
Mercedes, and realised it could have been the couple. I became certain once
I had reached the car and I recognised Mr al-Fayed. At that point I was
shocked, because it wasn't a pretty sight. I drew back for a few seconds.
While running towards the car, I had taken two pictures. I took another as
I drew back, after seeing al-Fayed in the car. All of this took less than
ten seconds.”

Two more photographers (Serge Arnal and Christian Martinez) arrive at the
scene in a black Fiat:

Martinez:

“We came by the car very quickly, at about 90-100 kph. We stopped about 20
metres further on. I don't remember if there were other vehicles there at
the time. Some vehicles had already stopped on the other side of the road,
but not on our side. I took out my camera. We went towards the crash scene
and that's where I remember seeing Rat. He seemed shocked by what had
happened, and was wandering aimlessly.”

Serge Arnal:

“Once I got out of the car, I didn't get too close, as I hate the sight of
blood. I saw the state of the car, and realised it was very serious. I used
my mobile phone to call the emergency services. It was my first reflex. I
had to move away from the site of the accident to get a better line. I went
towards the exit of the tunnel in the direction of Trocadéro. I screamed
into my mobile phone because the sound was bad. I was in a panic.”

[AH note - Arnal is reported to have dialed 12 instead of the correct
number, 112]

L'Express: At the same moment, at 0026, that is one minute after the
accident, a woman driving on the opposite carriageway calls the fire
brigade on her mobile phone. Three minutes later, the police emergency
number receives a call from a phone box in Place de l'Alma.

A pedestrian, Belkacem B., arrives on foot:

“I rushed over to the damaged vehicle, and immediately saaw the driver had
been squashed to a pulp, with his hand through the windscreen. I saw the
passenger had his jaw cut and dropping down, his body held upright by his
seat-belt and leaning against the Airbag. He was trapped in the vehicle and
there was no way to open the door. I thought it better not to touch him. In
the back seat was a man of about forty, stretched out, his feet in an
awkward position, his eyes turned back in his head. I saw right away he was
dead. Beside him, between the right-hand front seat and the back seat, a
blonde woman was doubled up on herself with a gash on her forehead and her
watch-strap undone. She moaned, and said a few words in English. "My God,
My God," I think. She still had her shoes on her feet. I tried to open the
door on the woman's side, but could not. I was the first to try to open one
of the car doors, as it happens the one which seemed the easiest but which,
all the same, resisted. As I arrived in the tunnel, I also saw the flash of
cameras coming from behind the car. I was surprised at these flashes,
although also pleased, as I thought it meant the emergency services were
already there. However, coming closer to the car, I saw there were four
photographers. As I tried to open one of the car doors, I asked the
photographers and especially the biggest of them (Romuald Rat) what we had
to do. The fat photogrpaher who was taking pictures of the car said to me:
'Don't touch anything. It's Princess Diana. She's with Dodi!' I asked him
again: 'What should I do? What should I do?' He told me to keep back other
vehicles.”

Romuald Rat decides to try and open the right-hand back door of the
Mercedes:

“I wanted to help them, because I have qualifications in first aid and
resuscitation. I thought the driver and bodyguard were dead. I saw Dodi
al-Fayed bent over in the back seat, lying facing me, his eyes half-open.
There was nothing more to be done for him. The Princess was on the floor,
between the two seats, her back to me, with a floor-mat covering her. I
lifted it [the mat] to see if she was still alive, and placed the mat on
the groin/lower stomach of al-Fayed. I wanted to take Diana's pulse. When I
touched her, she began to moan. Her head was bent slightly back, and she
seemed to be breathing. I said to her in English: "Be cool, doctor is
arriving' [sic] Just at that moment the bodyguard began to move around
violently in his seat. He was nudging the Princess at the same time. I got
up and went to look at him. His face was terribly damaged on the left side.
I touched him gently on the cheek and the head to let him know I was there.
I told him the same thing I had told the Princess. I went round to the
front of the car, and saw that the driver was completely hemmed in. I
wanted to see if I could disconnect the battery, but with the state the
car was in, it wasn't even worth thinking about. I went back to the rear of
the car, where the Princess was. I remember somebody showed up carrying a
small white oxygen mask.”

Rat takes several photos of the scene. Martinez admits to having done the
same thing in the heat of the moment.

Martinez:

"I tried to get Diana: I think I had to zoom in to get her. I was maybe
1.50 to 2 metres away from her, not doing anything."

Martinez and Rat exchange insults. Rat tells Martinez to get back, and take
no pictures of the interior of the car. Martinex tells Rat to "fuck off".

Martinez:

“We were all distressed at one moment or another.We left, we came back: our
only reaction was the desire to remain close to the scene. The only one who
moved in on the car was Rat. I think he's a good guy: he did his job
without malice, just like us. You have to remember we do a good-natured
job. We take pictures of movie stars, of singers [à deux francs cinquante -
no translation] ... it's true we didn't help the wounded. Maybe out of
modesty. It's a signof great arrogance to go to the aid of people we were
following a few minutes beforehand. I was paralysed by the relationship
between me and the people in that car.”

Dr Frédéric Mailliez arrives on the scene in his SOS-Médecins car. He takes
in the scene, pinpoints the location on a map and calls for help by radio.
He asks for two ambulances and a rescue vehicle for the trapped victims. He
take an oxygen mask from his car and goes back to the Mercedes, where he
gives first aid to Diana, helping her breath and ensuring her airway is not
blocked by bleeding. The Princess, unconscious, lets out a moan. As she has
no external injuries apart from a small scratch on her forehead the doctor
considers she has a good chance of survival. In the meantime, a volunteer
fireman who was passing, gives first aid to Trevor Rees-Jones.

Traffic arriving in the tunnel in both directions has caused snarl-ups.
Some people get out of their cars, others try to go through.

A witness:

“I thought it was a terrorist attack or the set of a film. My friend stopped
me getting out of the car, fearing an explosion.”

A man of "Egyptian type" dressed in a striped suit, according to witnesses,
asks drivers to reverse away from the scene. Another passer-by sees a
police patrol car on the cours Albert 1er. The two occupants, from the
VIIIe arrondissement station, are alerted and park at the entrance to the
tunnel. Passersby inform them "Lady Di" [sic} is in the car, and they
approach.

Sébastien Dorzee, one of the two officers [the other is Lino Gaggliardone]:

“There was group of 10 to 15 photographers taking pictures. The flashes were
going off like machine guns, and each of them must have shot off a whole
film. I immediately got out of the car and ran to the scene. As soon as I
saw the accident and the presence of the photographers I thought it must be
someone important. I saw the driver of the Mercedes who was obviously dead.
The front-seat passenger's face was very bloody. He was looking at me. He
was incapable of speaking, as his jaw was split in two. I realised the
photographers were not taking pictures of either the driver or the
front-seat passenger, but of the rear of the car, while the right-hand rear
door was partly open. I had to open the door a bit more to gain access, and
immediately recognised Princess Diana. I tried to push back the
photographers, who were enraged. In the struggle, I was pushed several
times. At no time did a photographer come to lend a hand. They just went on
taking pictures. It was clear I was getting in their way. When I opened the
back door further, I saw the passenger on the left of the back seat was
dead.”

Dorzee goes on:

“The Princess had made a half-turn from her initial [seated] position, and
her head was between the two front seats, facing sideways. She could see
her companion in front of her. She moved, with her eyes open, and spoke to
me in a foreign language [English]. I think she said 'My God' as she saw
her friend was dead. At the same time, she stroked her stomach. She must
have been in pain. I tried to lean into the car, with my feet still on the
ground outside, to try and prevent the photographers from taking more
pictures. She turned her head towards the front and saw the driver, and
took in more of what had happened, I think. She started to get upset. A few
seconds later, she looked at me. Then she laid down her head and closed her
eyes. I noticed that there were jewels scattered on the floor [of the car].
I took care that no-one pick them up.”

[snip witness reactions to photographers' conduct]

Rat's bike driver, Stéphane Darmon, on his colleagues' behaviour:

“I sat down for a moment on the edge of the passageway at the exit to the
tunnel. Two women who live in the area came up to join me. They saw I was
in a state of shock and comforted me a little. I had a bitter taste in my
mouth with regard to the photographers, because I couldn't stand it that
they were taking pictures.”

[...]

Emergency vehicles arrive at the crash scene: two vehicles from the fire
brigade - an ambulance and a wreckage-rescue vehicle. A Samu ambulance. On
board the Samu ambulance, whose arrival is logged at 0032 hrs, Dr Armold
Derossi. Dr Claude Fuilla attends for the fire brigade. Reinforcements
arrive shortly after - fire trucks from two stations, and two more
ambulances from the Necker hospital.

Jean-Marc Martino, anaesthetist and resuscitation surgeon of the Samu:

“I went off with the resuscitation ambulance and its usual crew: a paramedic
driver and an intern who is a medical student in training. We went under
the Alma tunnel, where we arrived a few moments later at the scene. On my
arrival, I was appraised of the identity of the victims as I made my way
towards a crashed vehicle being worked on by firemen. I immediately noted
the death of a man lying on the roadway - whom I later learned to be Mr
al-Fayed - and of the driver. I saw by his [the driver's] side a trapped
man who was showing signs of life. I also saw, trapped on the floor in the
back of the car, a woman I recognised as Lady Di [sic]. She was agitated
and crying out, and did not appear to understand what I was saying to
reassure her. I asked my crew to take care of the front-seat passenger, who
seemed the more seriously injured of the two [survivors], while calling for
back-up from the Samu to allow me to take charge of the second victim. I
did this having taken stock of the situation on the ground according to the
usual procedure.”

Dr Martino continues:

“At that time a fire brigade doctor arrived with his crew, and took charge
of the front-seat passenger, allowing me to concentrate on the Princess.
She was still agitated, mooving her left arm and right leg, and speaking
incoherently and in a confused way. Her right arm was bent behind her -
dislocated. With my team I examined her and put her on a drip to allow us
to release her from the wreck and take her to a hospital. She was locked in
a "medically abnormal" [sic] position between the back of the front
passenger seat and the rear seat. We extracted her with difficulty and
taking all the necessary precautions, with the aid of the firemen. Despite
this, as this was being done, she suffered a cardiac arrest and I had to
intubate her, ventilate her and use CPR to revive her. I got her into my
ambulance to carry out a more thorough examination, and to continue her
reanimation. She was in a serious condition.”

Ambulance attendant Michel Massebeuf:

“On our arrival the Samu doctor immediately started treating the Princess,
while she was in the car. According to what I saw, that's when she was put
on a drip. The firemen extracted the Princess from the crash vehicle. I
brought up the trolley, and she was put on. It seems to me she was
intubated at that point, to help her breathe. It migth have been in our
vehicle that it happened. I don;t remember very well. We got the Princess
into our vehicle as is customary, so that the Samu doctor could take care
of her in the best conditions.”

While this is going on, the fire brigade remove the roof of the Mercedes.
Trevor Rees-Jones is treated by Dr Le Hote from the Champerret fire brigade
barracks.

Text: It is just before 1.30 [am]. It has taken nearly a hour for the Samu
and the doctors to extract the Princess from the wreckage, establish
artificial respiration and give emergency treatment for a cardiac arrest.
Meantime, the emergency services look for the hospital best suited to
receive her. Their choice lands on the large hospital of la
Pitié-Salpêtrière, just minutes from the Gare d'Austerlitz - and more
especially the revival room of the department of anaesthetics and
resuscitation, which has already been alerted.

Prefect of police Philippe Massoni contacts Interior Minister Jean-Pierre
Chevènement, in residence at his second home in the Paris suburbs. The
minister wants to come to the scene as quickly as possible, but the prefect
advises him to go instead to the hospital. Massoni also contacts Christine
Albanel, cultural adviser to French president Jacques Chirac, on duty at
the Elysée Palace. She decides to follow events rather than wake the
president immediately. Prime minister Lionel Jospin is also alerted in La
Rochelle. He makes an immediate flight to Paris on board an official plane.
Christine Albanel calls British Ambassador Sir Michael Jay, who calls the
Queen's private secretary at Balmoral, then goes to the hospital. Prince
Charles is contacted. He informs the Queen but leaves his two sons to sleep
on.

Text: Mohammed al-Fayed, the father of Dodi, is informed by his men in a
roundabout way. At about 0040, when they fail to see the Mercedes
containing Diana and Dodi arrive at the apartment in the rue
Arséne-Houssaye, bodyguard Kes Wingfield and driver Philippe Dourneau start
to worry. Of course, it is possible Dodi changed the programme
unexpectedly. Wingfield tries to beep his colleague Trevor [Rees-Jones]. In
vain. In front of the entrance [to the apartment] two paparazzi, Stéphane
Cardinale and Pierre Suu are also waiting. Suddenly, Dourneau reports: "One
of them gets a call on his mobile phone. He goes white. We grasp that he
has received some terrible news. We had to insist before he would tell us
that Dodi had just had an accident under the pont de l'Alma.”

... [The] Decision to transfer Diana to hospital taken about 0130. A helicopter
evacuation is ruled out. Aside from the difficulty of bringing a helicopter
down on the expressway, the buffeting she might receive could be fatal to
Diana, whose life "hangs by a thread". She is taken in the Samu Necker
ambulance, with two police cars as escort and motorcycle outriders.

At just before 0200, Chevénement joins Massoni at la Pitié-Salpêtrière, at
the wing containing the intensive care unit. To their "great surprise" the
ambulance containing the Princess has not yet arrived. The banks of the
Seine have been closed to traffic, and even travelling at a cautious 40-50
kph to avoid aggravating the Princess's injuries, the ambulance should
already be there. Fearing an incident, perhaps involving journalists, has
taken place, Massoni Calls Marcel Vinzerich, public security commissioner
on duty, who is directing the convoy from one of the two cars. He is told
the ambulance has stopped on the pont d'Austerlitz: the doctors have had to
undertake an emergency operation.

Michel Massebeuf:

“At the Jardin des Plantes, the doctor asked me to stop. We stopped for
about five minutes so he could carry out a treatment which required
absolute immobility.”

Dr Martino:

“We stopped at the end of the pont d'Austerlitz. The patient was suffering a
fall in blood pressure. Then we left again for the hospital, where we
delivered the Princess to the duty resuscitation team, under the charge of
Professor [Bruno] Riou, to whom I explained the situation. The victim had
weak BP and had been intibated and ventilated.”

Daniel Eyraud, vascular surgeon:

“On her arrival, the Princess was unconscious and was being assisted in her
breathing. She was in shock but had a cardiac rhythm. That means her
arterial BP was very low, but that her heart was still beating.”

X-rays show serious haemothorax [bleeding in chest cavity] compromising her
heart and right lung. Requires drainage and massive transfusion. Cardiac
arrest between 0210 and 0215. Prof. Riou takes charge, and calls for
assistance from Prof. Alain Pavie, cardiac surgery specialist. But without
waiting for Pavie, Riou decides to go ahead with surgery with the aid of
Moncel Dahman, general surgeon. Thorax opened on right side.

Daniel Eyraud:

“I remember that the Princess's heart stopped just before this operation.”

Prof. Pavie arrives and takes over:

“On my arrival I had contact with Prof Riou and Dr Dahman. The discussion
lasted several seconds, given the gravity of the situation. They told me Dr
Dahman had been forced to perform a thoracotomy [opening of chest cavity]
with external cardiac massage. The conversation was taking place as he
carried out the necessary work on the patient, and I immediately agreed to
Dr Dahman's assessment. The Princess's vital functions were being
maintained by Dr Dahman. I noted that the origin of the bleeding was in the
perdicardial space, to the left and to the rear.”

[Signifies, says magazine, tearing of pulmonary vein. A nurse injects
repeated doses of adrenaline to keep heart going through repeated arrests.]

Dominique Hagnére, the nurse in question:

“Without this support for the circulatory function, she would have died
right away. Afterwards we realised we had injected her with about 150
ampoules of 5 ml/5 mg, which is an enormous amount. Later, the Princess's
condition made necessary a more serious surgical intervention.”

Prof Pavie:

“The treatment necessitated an enlargement of the surgical incision. The
transfer to the operating wing of casualty [emergency room] was immediately
carried out, while internal cardiac massage was going on. Bleeding was due
to a partial rupture of the left superior part of the [pulmonary] vein
where it joins the left auricle. This wound was sutured. Bleeding was
controlled and we continued with resuscitation.”

Daniel Hagnère:

“The patient remained dependent on cardiac massage and did not recover a
spontaneous cardiac rhythm. Even after half an hour of this adapted
resuscitation the pressure of expired carbon gases [?] remained depressed.
We even applied several electric shocks during the reanimation to get the
heart going.”

Prof Pavie:

“In the face of the ineffectiveness of the reanimation effort,  we decided
to stop all maneuvres after consultation with all of those taking part.
Death was declared at 0400.”