<P> On Saturday, 30 August 1997, Diana left Sardinia on a private jet and arrived in Paris with Dodi Fayed, the son of Mohamed Al - Fayed . They had stopped there en route to London, having spent the preceding nine days together on board Mohamed Al - Fayed's yacht Jonikal on the French and Italian Riviera . They had intended to stay there for the night . Mohamed Al - Fayed was and is the owner of the Hôtel Ritz Paris . He also owned an apartment in Rue Arsène Houssaye, a short distance from the hotel, just off the Avenue des Champs Elysées . </P> <P> Henri Paul, the deputy head of security at the Ritz Hotel, had been instructed to drive the hired black 1994 Mercedes - Benz S280 in order to elude the paparazzi; a decoy vehicle left the Ritz first from the main entrance on Place Vendôme, attracting a throng of photographers . Diana and Fayed then departed from the hotel's rear entrance, Rue Cambon at around 00: 20 on 31 August CEST (22: 20 on 30 August UTC), heading for the apartment in Rue Arsène Houssaye . They did this to avoid the nearly 30 photographers waiting in the front of the hotel . They were the rear passengers; Trevor Rees - Jones, a member of the Fayed family's personal protection team, was in the (right) front passenger seat . It was believed that Diana and Dodi were not wearing seat belts . After leaving the Rue Cambon and crossing the Place de la Concorde, they drove along Cours la Reine and Cours Albert 1er--the embankment road along the right bank of the River Seine--into the Place de l'Alma underpass . </P> <P> At 12: 23 a.m., Paul lost control of the vehicle at the entrance to the Pont de l'Alma tunnel . The car struck the righthand wall and then swerved to the left of the two - lane carriageway before it collided head - on with the 13th pillar that supported the roof . The car was travelling at an estimated speed of 105 km / h (65 mph). It then spun and hit the stone wall of the tunnel backwards, finally coming to a stop . The impact caused substantial damage, particularly to the front half of the vehicle, as there was no guard rail between the pillars to prevent this . Witnesses arriving shortly after the accident reported smoke . Witnesses also reported that photographers on motorcycles "swarmed the Mercedes sedan before it entered the tunnel ." </P> <P> As the victims lay in the wrecked car, the photographers, who had been driving slower and were accordingly some distance behind the Mercedes, reached the scene . The photographers were on motorcycles . Some rushed to help, tried to open the doors and help the victims, while some of them took pictures . Airbags were deployed . Police arrived on scene around 10 minutes after the crash at 00: 30 and an ambulance was on site five minutes after the police, according to witnesses . France Info radio reported that one photographer was beaten by witnesses who were horrified by the scene . Five of the photographers were taken into custody . Later, two others were detained and around 20 rolls of film were taken from the photographers . Police also impounded their vehicles . Firemen also arrived to help remove the victims . </P>

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