Court experts looking into the temporary blindness of the Prime Minister during a political meeting in April have shifted their attention from the lighting equipment to the “brilliant white” canopy used for the event.

When some 60 people who had attended Labour’s weekly event in Żurrieq suffered burns or discomfort to their eyes on April 6, it was thought this had been caused by radiation emitted by a light source.

To understand better what could have happened, investigators yesterday mounted the lighting equipment and the canopy used during the meeting in Żurrieq on a car park at the University campus.

A special tender was issued for specialised equipment to be brought over from abroad to measure light intensity, specifically the UV index.

The readings indicated a substantially higher UV index inside the tent

Court experts, sources told Times of Malta, established that the eye problems suffered by the Prime Minister and others who attended the event was not caused by the equipment used by Nexos Lighting on that day.

The technical readings, in fact, showed that the intensity of all the lights added up to a quarter of the UV index of natural sunlight outside the tent.

Experts concluded that the lights were not the cause and turned their attention to the tent itself. The readings also indicated a substantially higher UV index inside the tent than outside in natural conditions, leading them to conclude that the sunlight was being reflected off the tent, which had been cleaned just a few days before the April 6 event, turning it to “brilliant white”.

The UV index was comparable to the intensity one would encounter on the snow, the sources said.

It had been reported that the Prime Minister was the worst affected and he was temporarily blinded after suffering radiation burns in both eyes.

His injuries were compatible with lighting burns caused by exposure to UV radiation, similar to a welder’s burns or snow blindness.

A photographer of this newspaper assigned to cover the inquiry yesterday was stopped from taking pictures by a policewoman. When he asked whether he could film from a distance he was told he could not as the inquiry site was “out-of-bounds”. The officer also told the photographer he should be grateful he had not been asked to delete the images he had already taken.

When this newspaper communicated what happened to the police communications office, an officer asked Times of Malta to contact the inspector in charge, although the spokesman said the media unit did not know who it was.