President Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca rode on the Porsche Spider supercar just a few hours before the car crashed into the crowd at the Paqpaqli charity event yesterday.

The President met drivers and helpers and rode the car when she toured the show, held to raise funds for the Community Chest Fund's L-Istrina.

In the accident one of the supercar's rear wheels touched the grass as it was being driven at speed on a taxiway in front of the Lufthansa Tecknik facility. The car spun and ploughed through plastic barriers and ordinary police barriers before hitting a large number of spectators.