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Latest on Schumi and ski-fall probe

ALBERTVILLE, France - The French mountain slope on which Michael Schumacher fell while skiing was prepared according to national standards, the local prosecutor told a news conference.

Prosecutor Patrick Quincy said: "There are French standards setting rules on safety, signalling, demarcation. The checks we have made show these standards had been respected."

He was presenting the results of a police investigation into the December 29 2013 fall that left Schumacher in a critical condition with brain injuries. Schumacher has been in an induced coma since then and has undergone two operations in Grenoble.

‘NOT SURE'

Quincy added that he could not assess Schumacher's speed before his fall despite watching footage from the his helmet camera: "I watched the film, the investigators have been watching it too, but it's hard for me to assess the speed."

Policeman, Stephane Bozon said Schumacher was skiing "beyond the marked-out zone. It is tricky for now to say how fast, in km/h, he was skiing, but it was the pace of a good skier on a slope that is not too steep."

Bozon also ruled out Schumacher's skis playing a part in the fall, saying: "The skis are not the cause of the accident".

TIMELINE OF EVENTS

• December 29, 2013: Schumacher's head  hits a rock as he falls in a boulder-strewn section of the French Alpine ski resort of Meribel. He is wearing a helmet but it is smashed into two pieces and he is evacuated by helicopter. Professor Stephan Chabardes operates on Schumacher in Grenoble and places him in a coma, with a body temperature lowered to between 35 degrees  owing to "serious brain trauma."

• December 30: Schumacher is in a "life-threatening" condition  and a second operation is done by neuro-surgeon Emmanuel Gay to treat bleeding in the brain. German Chancellor Angela Merkel's spokesman says she was "extremely shocked," and French authorities launch an investigation.

• December 31: Schumacher's manager Sabine Kehm tells the news media her client was skiing with friends and son Mick and insists he was not going at high speed before he fell.

• January 1, 2014: Kehm tells reporters Schumacher  is "stable". The racing champion turns 45 the next day as fans stage a vigil outside the hospital.

• January 4: A German airline steward tells Der Spiegel magazine that he filmed the fall by chance and that Schumacher was doing 20 km/h at most."A day earlier, French daily Le Dauphine Libere said police had a camera that was mounted on Schumacher's helmet.

• January 6: Doctors say Schumacher is critical but stable, a source close to the family speaks of slight improvement.

• January 7: Schumacher's wife Corinna, speaking publicly for the first time since the fall asks media to leave our family in peace.

• January 8: Investigators ruled out faulty skis, inadequate signage or excessive speed as possible causes of Schumacher's fall.


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