Second Vehicle May Be Tied To Diana Crash Shards Of Taillight Covers Found; Police Searching For Blue Fiat

French police are searching for a small blue Fiat that may have played a role in causing the automobile crash that killed the Princess of Wales and two others, police sources said Wednesday.

Investigators searching the tunnel in which the Mercedes-Benz S-280 crashed at high speed early Aug. 31 found shards of taillight covers from another car more than a dozen yards before the spot where the Mercedes violently slammed into a pillar. Also killed were Diana’s friend, Dodi Fayed, and Henri Paul, the Ritz Hotel employee who was driving. Tests later determined that Paul’s system contained more than three times the legal limit of alcohol, plus traces of two antidepressant drugs.

The sources emphasized that the only link was the “placement” of the taillight-casing pieces. Investigators have determined that they came from a two-door Fiat Uno, and they were found near fragments of the Mercedes’ headlight. Such fragments could be consistent with the Mercedes bumping a car from behind. In addition, the right side of the black Mercedes shows traces of blue paint, though it has not yet been determined whether they were a result of the accident or were already there.

Witnesses have reported hearing a long and loud screech of brakes in the tunnel before the impact. The possibility that a car in front of the Mercedes caused Paul to brake suddenly has never been ruled out.

The road going down into the tunnel shifts to the left just before the entrance, so a car traveling slowly inside would not be seen by a fast-moving car behind it until the last moment. In addition, a feeder road comes into the tunnel from the right; cars that enter from that direction would not have much time to gain speed.

Another possibility, raised frequently by the Ritz and spokesmen for its owner and Dodi’s father, Mohamed Fayed, is that a vehicle belonging to one of the photographers following Diana and the younger Fayed that night blocked the Mercedes, either intentionally or inadvertently.