FRENCH authorities have launched a police investigation into the tragic death of a Southampton based shipping boss last summer.

Senior Orient Overseas Container Line executive Courtenay Allan, pictured above, suffered multiple fractures in a freak accident on board a ship in Le Havre port and died the following day.

He fell six floors or 20 metres after walking through an open elevator door and landed on top of the lift car on the OOCL Montreal, which was about to embark on its maiden voyage.

The 53-year-old businessman had previously had a miraculous escape when hijacked planes slammed into the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001.

He had been walking across the plaza, between the centre's twin towers, and was left covered in debris.

The French prosecutor is investigating the circumstances of his death before deciding whether to press charges. The inquiry follows an attempt by an Essex coroner to force more details of the tragedy into the open via an inquest.

Mr Allan, OOCL's transatlantic trade director, died from multiple injuries almost exactly a year ago, on July 4, one day after his accident.

The fall has baffled experts. It is virtually unheard of for a lift system to fail as catastrophically as it did and no electrical or mechanical malfunction has been found.

Neither OOCL, the lift manufacturer Joong Ang Elevator or shipbuilder Daewoo have been able to explain why the lift doors opened before the lift car arrived.

Family members are known to be unhappy about the progress of OOCL's internal investigation into the tragedy.

Relatives contacted by the Daily Echo declined to comment due to the sensitive nature of the current investigation but his sons have appointed a French lawyer to keep them abreast of the latest developments.

Le Havre public prosecutor Jean-Jaques Bosc said his probe had been delayed, partly because he had only just received a technical report prepared for OOCL.

"We have no real explanation to date as to why the lift did not present itself when the gentleman called it," he said.

He forecast his investigation could take some time to complete, due to its complexity. Mr Allan formerly worked for Dart Container Line in Southampton.

Southampton is called at by OOCL's services to and from Asia and the US, with imports going by rail to OOCL's customer base in the north of England.