Lake Annecy gun linked to unsolved 2012 murder of British family in French Alps

French officials are examining a Luger pistol found at the bottom of Lake Annecy which could have been used in the murders of a British-Iraqi family and a French cyclist 14 years ago.

The 2012 Alps killings saw three members of a British-Iraqi family and a French citizen shot dead on a mountain road near the southern end of Lake Annecy.

Saad al-Hilli, 50; his wife Iqbal, 47; her mother Suhaila al-Allaf, 74 and French cyclist Sylvain Mollier, 45, were found dead on a mountain road. 

The al-Hillis' two daughters survived the attack. One, aged four, was found hidden under the legs of her dead mother in the rear footwell while the elder one, aged seven, was shot in the shoulder and also suffered a head wound.

French prosecutors in the western Paris suburb of Nanterre told AFP on Monday the Luger was fished out from the bottom of the lake by British tourists swimming there on August 20.

It shows similarities to the weapon used in the 2012 attack.

French and British police had investigated al-Hilli's past in Iraq as an engineer on sensitive topics, as well as his work at the time of his death, as a potential motive for the attack.

Read more Man held over 2012 French Alps murder released without charges after police probe

(FRANCE 24 with AFP)