The biggest taxi firm in Paris has said it is suspending the use of Model 3 Teslas in its fleet after a fatal crash in the French capital at the weekend. A driver lost control of his Tesla on Saturday night in the south-eastern 13th district of Paris, killing one person and injuring 20, leaving three people in intensive care. Paris prosecutors on Saturday opened an investigation into the incident. Given the speed and the trajectory of the vehicle, which struck multiple objects as it careened down the street, there were initially suspicions of a malfunction such as a stuck accelerator. The G7 taxi company, which claims to be the biggest firm in Europe, said 37 of its drivers used the Tesla Model 3, and other Tesla models would remain in service. After checking the crashed vehicle’s data remotely, Tesla denied any technical problem with the car. The US group said it would share all details with French authorities if requested. The French transport minister, Jean-Baptiste Djebbari, said on Wednesday there was no suggestion at this stage that the crash was caused by a technical fault. “There are no elements that would lead one to believe it was tied to a technical problem,” Djebbari told RMC radio. The minister said he had spoken with the chief executive of Tesla Europe who told him there had been no safety alerts about the model involved in the crash. G7’s deputy chief executive, Yann Ricordel, said the incident occurred while an off-duty taxi driver was taking his family to a restaurant on Saturday evening. Tesla collects detailed data from the sensors and cameras on its vehicles and has used such data in the past to challenge claims that incidents were caused by malfunctioning technology. Tesla’s safety record has been questioned in the past over a series of fatal crashes linked to its cars’ Autopilot driver assistance programme, which can steer, brake and accelerate a vehicle on its own. This article was amended on 15 December 2021 to refer to the incident as a crash rather than an accident, in line with Guardian style guidance.