Facebook gave Paqpaqli host solidarity, not criticism after crash that injured 26

Paqpaqli host Tonio Darmanin is not taking many calls.

He has not even posted anything on his two Facebook profiles after a Porsche supercar crashed into spectators of a charity event hosted by the Paqpaqli motor-car show, injuring 26.

But on Facebook, people seem intent on offering solidarity for the TV host as a six-year-old girl and her mother are still lying in critical state at Mater Dei Hospital’s ITU.

Questions about the level of safety that was present at the Malta airport runway during a charity event that raised money for the Malta Community Chest Fund: when the Porsche owner Paul Bailey lost control of his supercar, it crashed right through plastic barriers that had no form of resistance.

Before the fateful crash: Tonio Darmanin is pleased at the arrival of the four supercars in Malta that were about to raise thousands in charity for the Malta Community Chest Fund

Few in fact had anything to say about the degree of safety at the Paqpaqli event, which witnesses said only had plastic barriers separating the spectators from the runway where the supercars were racing.

Indeed lawyer Georg Sapiano, a former PN candidate and broadcaster, posted questions about the extent of safety planning on Darmanin’s Facebook wall.

“I do not wish to comment or express an opinion without knowing the facts. Instead, I'd like to ask these questions: was the steel crash barrier the only thing separating the crowd from the track? Were there piles of tyres to absorb any impact? Was the crash barrier fixed or simply placed? Did anybody go through the motions of a worst-case scenario? If the answers to the above suggest, as it seems, a lapse of logical and safe planning then this is a tragedy that could have been avoided.”

Safety barriers: lawyer Georg Sapiano posted this photo on Tonio Darmanin's Facebook wall.

Irrespectively of the sage advice, few Facebook followers were interested in Sapiano’s tuppence.

“Have courage, Tonio,” Chris Coleiro replied. “Don’t take any heed of what people are saying. Everybody’s wise after the incident. Motorsport lovers know the good you have done without anything in return. It was an unfortunate incident that shows we need a track and motorsport facility.”

Even Darmanin’s alma mater, the Stella Maris College association of former sixth formers, offered its prayers not just to those injured and their families. “Our thoughts cannot not focus on our ex-classmate Tonio Darmanin who – for the past ten years – has been the mind behind such a unique event.”

Another Facebook user, Dunstan Crockford also had solidiarty for Tonio Darmanin. “He must be shattered, after all the preparation and man-house he devotes to this event. This was the last thing expected from a wonderfully-organised event… God willing all will recover.”