A French former marine was quoted on Sunday as saying his high-speed driving might have been a major factor in the car crash that killed Princess Diana last year.

Francois Levistre, 54, told Britain's Sunday People newspaper: "Thinking about it carefully, I now understand how I could have helped cause the crash."I was close behind the car, as much as 10 meters, and my driving may have caused it to swerve and lose control."

Levistre, a truck driver by profession, said he was speeding in a dark gray Ford Ka through the Paris underpass last August where the princess's car crashed.

His comments came in an interview with investigators working for journalist Nicholas Farrell who is writing a book on the crash, the newspaper said.

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But Farrell said: "In no way can it be suggested that Levistre was responsible totally for the crash. . . . He was simply the catalyst to a terrible sequence of events."

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