[WATCH] Bonnici evasive on President's Office supercar crash liability

Abela says looking into better safety for public events would not go amiss

Justice minister Owen Bonnici refused to say whether or not the Office of the President of the Republic would be held accountable for the Paqpaqli ghall-Istrina supercar crash that injured 26 on Sunday. .

“I think it would be premature to speculate on the matter before the magisterial inquiry is concluded,” Bonnici said today.

Earlier today The Times of Malta reported that liability of the damages incurred during the event would be hard to claim for victims of Sunday’s incident, because the event was organised by volunteers raising funds for the Malta Community Chest Fund, and the Office of the President enjoys immunity from civil and criminal prosecution.

Asked whether the Office of the president would be exempt from responsibility of the tragedy, Bonnici reiterated that he thought it would be best to allow the inquiry to make the necessary conclusions rather than make hasty conclusions based on speculations.

Bonnici also expressed his solidarity to those injured during the event and added that he was pleased to hear that some of the victims’ situations had improved.

Addressing the same press conference, home affairs minister Carmelo Abela said that looking into better practices and guidelines for security at public events would be welcome.

“I think we should always improve on current practises,” he said, adding that he couldn’t comment on last Sunday’s tragic event at charity car show Paqpaqli ghall-Istrina.

The event, organised by the Malta Community Chest Fund ended with 26 people being run over by a Porsche supercar. Questions have since risen about the safety and security precautions taken at the event after Porsche owner Paul Bailey lost control of his supercar, and crashed right through plastic barriers that had no form of resistance.

Asked whether it would be advisable to include police forces in the preparation for such big-scale public events, Abela said that discussions with various stakeholders, would be necessary to determine which authority should be responsible for public events of a certain standing and importance.