Four dead in France shooting around British car

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Four people were shot dead in or close to a British-registered car that was found on Wednesday in a forest car park on the edge of the French Alpine village of Chevaline.

The car, a BMW, contained the bodies of a man, in the front, and two women who were seated in the back, police said.

The body of a second man, a cyclist, was found nearby along with a seriously wounded girl, who was in a critical condition in intensive care after being taken to hospital by helicopter.

Local prosecutor Eric Maillaud had earlier mistakenly told journalists the girl had died.

The car was registered in Britain, Maillaud said in a briefing to reporters in Chevaline, located close to Lake Annecy in the Haute-Savoie area of eastern France.

"We haven't yet been able to establish the nationality of the victims," said Maillaud, who did not have access to the car pending forensic examinations.

"For the moment we have not been able to establish a theory about what has happened here."

A spokesman for the Foreign Office in London said: "We are aware of the reports of the shooting and we are looking into these urgently."

The victims were discovered by another cyclist at around 3:50 pm (1350 GMT).

A large number of spent cartridges were discovered on the ground around the BMW.

Police had sealed off the area around the car to allow forensic experts to go over the scene. Around 60 gendarmes were involved in the search for potential clues.

The prosecutor said he would be giving an update on the course of the investigation in a press conference at 2pm Thursday in the nearby town of Annecy.