>Princess Diana saw her lover Dodi al-Fayed dying when she opened her eyes after their limousine crashed in a Paris road tunnel, the inquest into their deaths was told.

French policeman Sebastien Dorzee, the first member of the emergency services to reach the scene of the crash in August 1997, said Diana mumbled "My God" when she realised what had happened.

In a series of statements read out to the London inquest investigating the couple's deaths, Dorzee said the paparazzi who had chased them into the tunnel were "vicious and repellent", constantly insulting him and arguing with each other.

"Although these journalists jostled and insulted me, I did not strike anyone," Dorzee said.

Dorzee said Diana's head was between the two front seats, facing sideways, "and she could see her boyfriend just in front of her".

"She moved, her eyes were open, speaking to me in a foreign language. I think that she said 'My God' on seeing her boyfriend dying. At the same time she was rubbing her stomach. She must have been in pain."

Under British law, an inquest is needed to determine the cause of death when someone dies unnaturally.

The inquest, expected to last up to six months and cost up to 10 million pounds ($20.7 million), was opened after the conclusion of major British and French police investigations. Those investigations concluded Diana and Dodi died because their chauffeur, Henri Paul, was drunk and drove too fast through a Paris road tunnel, crashing the vehicle into a pillar.