A four-year-old girl was found alive inside a car containing three victims of a fatal shooting spree in the French Alps that is thought to have involved a British family.
Investigators discovered the unharmed youngster among the dead bodies of a man and two women after being called to the massacre in the Haute-Savoie region.
A seven-year-old girl was discovered lying on the road in a critical condition near the BMW people carrier, while a male cyclist, who had also suffered gunshot wounds, was also found dead close by.
French prosecutors said the girl of four was only found when investigators began a forensic examination of the car, with reports suggesting this was eight hours after the initial discovery.
It was also reported that she was speaking English and hiding underneath some of the bodies.
Officers were reportedly given a tip-off about the grisly scene by another cyclist.
Investigators said no weapon has been found and no arrests have been made. It was also unclear if the shootings had been carried out by one killer or a number of people.
One theory is that shots could have been fired during a bungled armed robbery, with the dead cyclist being a witness to the crime.
The BMW was discovered surrounded by spent bullet cartridges on Wednesday afternoon in a car park on the outskirts of a forest near Lake Annecy, a picturesque region popular with tourists.
Annecy prosecutor Eric Maillaud said 15 cartridges were found around the car and that a “very large number” of shots had been fired. The firearm used in the spree is thought to be an automatic pistol, he added.
French officials confirmed the British-registered vehicle was owned by a UK national who was staying at a nearby campsite, believed to be in the Saint-Jorioz area.
Mr Maillaud said the man had checked into the site with two women and two young girls, adding: “The owner of the vehicle was British and he was the person who identified himself to the campsite. He is presumed to be a victim and was accompanied by two women and two little girls.
“We can assume it’s a family although it is yet to be proved. We have been taking evidence, including DNA, which will be sent to the British authorities for confirmation.”
Mr Maillaud, who described the scene as being like something seen in a film, said the two dead women were found in the back seat of the car and the dead man was discovered in the front.
The prosecutor added: “At the beginning of the investigation when the investigators got into the car they discovered a little (four-year-old) girl, who was frozen still and uninjured.”
Mr Maillaud said the critically injured seven-year-old was taken to the nearby Grenoble University Hospital where her condition had been stabilised following emergency surgery.
Doctors have now said she is now out of danger, he added. “We don’t know when we will be able to question her and I would imagine she is in a state of shock,” Mr Maillaud said.
“She could not tell the difference between the good guys and bad guys. She spontaneously began to smile and speak in English when the policeman took her in his arms and pulled her out of the car.”
He added: “The little girl spoke English. She had heard the noises, the cries but she couldn’t say more, she is only four years old.”
The Foreign Office said it was in close contact with the French authorities and seeking further information.
A FCO spokesman said: “We are aware of the reports of the shooting and we are looking into these urgently.”
He added that British consular staff arrived in Grenoble this morning and were making their way to the scene to liaise with French authorities.
The bodies of the people in the car were not expected to be moved until this morning, to allow further investigation to be carried out.
The ages of the adults are not known, but some reports said they were aged in their 40s or 50s.
Some 60 police officers are at the scene, which has been closed off, and a search being conducted of the nearby forest for the perpetrator or perpetrators.
Specialist investigators from the National Gendarmerie’s Criminal Research Institute were sent to the area, near the village of Chevaline, from Paris. Forensic scientists have also been working at the crime scene and a police helicopter was seen overhead.
Sky News reports that dozens of gendarmes are in attendance and a lot of shell cases have been found surrounding the car.
A Foreign Office spokesman said: “We are aware of the reports of the shooting and we are looking into these urgently.”
The website of local newspaper Le Dauphine Libere said he passing cyclist who found the bodies was in a state of shock and has been speaking to police.
According to the official website of the lake, the area is known as the “little Venice of the Alps” and is a centre for paragliding, swimming and watersports.
Many hotels, guest houses and campsites are advertised in the area and it is also said to be popular with hikers, cyclists and mountain bikers and, in winter, snowsports.
The closest city is Lyon, which is over 100 miles away, while the capital, Paris, is about 350 miles from Chevaline.
Local journalist Leila Lamnaouer told Sky News it is a “very quiet place” where a lot of people go on holiday.
The shooting appears to have been one of the only major incidents reported in the area this year.
Chevaline is about 50 miles from Mont Maudit in the Mont Blanc range near Chamonix, where nine climbers were killed in an avalanche in July.
