DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: It was years ago today that Princess Diana died in the Paris car crash. A look back at that in our "CNN 20" segment.</s>ANNOUNCER: Bringing you the world for 20 years, this is CNN.</s>JEANNE MESERVE, CNN ANCHOR: Princess Diana was in a car accident tonight in Paris at a high rate of speed along the Seine River. The man with whom she is romantically linked, Dodi Al Fayed...</s>MESERVE: The first reports were simply that there had been an accident and that Diana had been injured. We had no idea how badly injured she was and it took some time to find out. We were collecting information from everywhere. It was genuinely improvisational coverage. But fortunately we had people in the key cities who we could muster and get to the scene.</s>JIM BITTERMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Here in Paris, we were originally told that Princess Diana is in grave condition. Now the police have stopped...</s>BITTERMANN: We got to the scene at L'Alme (ph) Tunnel where the accident took place and they had -- were taking great pains to try to treat her in the car and then try to take her to the hospital at that point. One of the first things that struck me was that the skid marks of the car were so faint because the Mercedes was literally flying as it came through that tunnel. That said to me right away that the speed was a real factor in what had happened. And within about 48 hours, we found out it was also alcohol that had played a part; then shortly after that, that drugs had played a part.</s>UNIDENTIFIED ANCHOR: We have some very sad news to bring you. We are just getting word that the French government has informed all of us that Princess Diana has died.</s>BITTERMANN: That was a truly sad moment indeed. I mean, how could something like this happen to someone who was so well-protected? If it could happen to her, it could happen to anybody.
CNN 20: Princess Diana Dies, August 31, 1997