adminGrenoble – Michael Schumacher was skiing at a moderate pace at the moment of the accident which has left him in coma, news magazine Der Spiegel reported on its website Saturday, citing a video filmed by a German witness.The witness, a 35-year-old steward, said that he was filming his girlfriend with a smartphone when he captured by chance the moment when Schumacher slammed his head against a rock in the French alps.
According to the witness, who contacted the German magazine on Friday, Schumacher was descending the slope at a “leisurely” pace – “a maximum speed of 20 kilometres an hour”.
In the background of the film, a skier could be seen descending on an unmarked run between two groomed pistes before falling.
Der Spiegel said the witness planned to provide the video to French investigators.
Schumacher was skiing off piste on December 29 near the Meribel ski resort with his 14-year-old son Mick and friends when he struck a rock so hard that his helmet was split in two.
Schumacher remains in a “critical but stable” condition, his spokesperson said on Saturday, as French investigators hoped a helmet-mounted camera he was wearing at the moment of his ski accident could answer a raft of questions.
A spokesperson for the retired Formula One champion denied some reports that his family had been reluctant to hand over the camera – taken by authorities on Friday – because of privacy reasons.
“Michael’s helmet camera was voluntarily given to the investigating authorities by the family,” said spokewoman Sabine Kehm in a statement. “That this should have been done against the wishes of the family is untrue.”
The existence of the GoPro camera was publicly revealed late Friday, five days after the December 29 accident in the French Alps near the Meribel ski resort.
It was not known whether the camera filmed Schumacher’s descent down the slope or whether the images have been damaged by the impact on the rock, which was so hard it split the helmet he was wearing.
Police on Friday got eyewitness testimony from Schumacher’s 14-year-old son Mick, who was skiing with his father at the time, as well as a friend, at the Grenoble hospital.
Kehm said Schumacher remains in a “critical but stable” condition and that no more press conferences were scheduled before today.
Schumacher turned 45 on Friday while still in an induced coma.
Fans marked the birthday with a silent vigil outside the facility, part of which was organised by Ferrari, Schumacher’s former team.
The GoPro miniature camera, robust and popular among extreme sports enthusiasts, has a 170-degree wide angle lens that takes in much of the view and can show parts of the user’s body including the face depending on how it is mounted.
The latest models can take up to 30 images a second for six hours. If there are images and they are usable, they should shed light on the circumstances of the accident on a small, seemingly innocuous off-piste section of Meribel located between two ski slopes — one classed as easy and the other as intermediate.
Conflicting statements have emerged, notably about how fast Schumacher was going when he crashed. Investigators are tasked with determining responsibility in the accident, with high stakes possibly involved regarding any insurance compensation.
Albertville prosecutors and the ski resort say Schumacher was skiing at great speed. Kehm has challenged that, saying he could not have been going fast “because it appears he helped a friend who had just fallen”.
Edouard Bourgin, a specialist on accident claims said: “There could have been a catapult effect that explains the violence of the shock, even in the absence of excessive speed.”
Prosecutors are also looking at whether the limits of the ski runs next to the accident site were correctly marked and whether the rock in question was lying close enough to the piste to require some kind of protection or signage.
They are also examining whether the safety releases on Schumacher’s skis operated properly.- Sport24.
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