As Diana, the Princess of Wales, and Dodi Fayed lay dying inside the wreckage of their car, photographers climbed on to it to take pictures instead of helping them, it was claimed yesterday.

Witnesses at the inquests into their deaths described how photographers were “on the car” to get shots but made no attempt to assist those inside.

António Lopes-Borges, a Portuguese national who lives in France, and his friend Ana Simão came across the accident shortly after midnight on August 31, 1997, as they drove from central Paris to Boulogne.

Giving evidence by video link, Ms Simão said that she had seen two photographers taking pictures at the scene. Asked how close they were to the car, she replied: “They were on the car. There were also young people arriving from the other lane, the other way, and they were on the car trying to open the doors.”

Asked if any of the photographers tried to assist the people in the car, Mr Lopes-Borges replied: “No.”

Both wondered if they were witnessing a terrorist attack when a man told them to reverse because there was going to be an explosion. They could not do so because another car had drawn up behind them. They could see the crashed Mercedes in the tunnel as they approached along the Seine embankment.

Asked by Ian Burnett, QC, counsel to the inquests, if he had seen any photographers at the scene, Mr Lopes-Borges said: “Yes, there was already one photographer; he was taking pictures. It seems to me another photographer arrived. The same as the other, he took pictures and after taking pictures, I don’t remember if it was the first or the second one. but he took his cellphone and called somebody.” The possible involvement of a white Fiat Uno in the crash remains a question that has not been resolved satisfactorily. Asked if he had noticed any others cars in the tunnel, Mr Lopes-Borges said that a small car had arrived from the right.

“When it arrived from the curve in the tunnel, it was in the entrance on the right; from this entrance you can reach the tunnel. In front of me there were no other cars, so if a car was there it was because it took the entrance on the right.” Because it was dark, the witness said, he could not identify the colour of the car.

Ms Simão said that she had seen a white car ahead of the green Peugeot in which she and Mr Lopes-Borges were travelling. “It moved between the pillar and the Mercedes,” she said. Asked by Mr Burnett how many people were in the car, she said: “I think if I remember well there was only the driver.”

Mr Lopes-Borges said that earlier he had been behind a big German car which had taken off at great speed from traffic lights in the Place de la Concorde, followed by several others – one of which, a four-wheel-drive, slightly bumped his car as it sped off.

Asked if she had been aware of any other cars as she left the Place de la Concorde for the embankment expressway, Ms Simão said that she had been aware of a big black car and a smaller one. “They were really speeding up and they forced us to go on the right-hand lane; we just imagined and assumed they would have had to go very quickly, so we let them go ahead.”

Ms Simão said that it was very noisy in the tunnel. “The klaxon was noisy, but also the windows [of the Mercedes] were broken and the airbags were out. Also there was traffic from the other lane; our lane was stopped but the other lane was not stopped.”

The 11 jurors and the coroner, Lord Justice Scott Baker, had returned to London after a two-day trip to the French capital where they retraced the couple’s final hours.

The hearing continues.

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