Lake Annecy, France. Photograph by Guilhem Vellut
French police have arrested a 48-year-old man over the 2012 murders of a British-Iraqi family in the French Alps.
Saad al-Hilli, 50, his wife Iqbal, her mother, and a French cyclist were killed in a car park near Lake Annecy. The family’s two young daughters survived the attack, with seven-year-old Zainab surviving her gunshot injuries, and four-year-old Zeena managing to hide herself under the bodies of her parents in the car.
In November, French police published an identikit image of a motorcyclist that was seen riding in the area at the time, who wore a specific and relatively rare helmet.
This arrest is “the result of witness statements” and the man bares a striking resemblance to the identikit image according to Annecy prosecutor Eric Maillaud quoted by AFP.
The motive for the murders remains unknown.
