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Alps Shootings Survivor Returns To Britain

A young girl who survived a gun attack in the French Alps which killed her parents has returned to Britain with relatives.

Four-year-old Zeena al Hilli was discovered hiding under the body of her dead mother Iqbal, who was killed alongside her father Saad and two other people on Wednesday.

She returned to the UK accompanied by an aunt and uncle who travelled to France following the shootings, French prosecutor Eric Maillaud said.

"She (Zeena) returned to the UK by air. On arrival she was put under the care of the authorities and the social services."

Her seven-year-old sister Zainab was brought out of a medically-induced coma on Sunday after being shot in the shoulder and beaten. She remains heavily sedated in hospital.

"The little girl has come out of the artificial coma but she is under sedation and her speech is not yet audible," Mr Maillaud said. "She is in a better state of health now."

The AFP news agency earlier reported that Mr al Hilli's brother will be questioned by detectives for a second time, amid claims the pair were in a dispute over money.

He has denied that there was any feud between them.

An older Swedish woman who was travelling in the al Hilli’s BMW 4x4 was also killed, along with Sylvain Mollier, 45, a French cyclist who apparently stumbled across the attack in Chevaline, near the borders of Italy and Switzerland.

Swiss and Italian police are helping in the hunt for those behind the shootings.

Police officer Benoit Vinneman told reporters that the crime scene is being re-examined, and that it would be wrong to focus on the theory of an "ordered execution".

"Is this the work of a crazy person? Was the family the real target? Only work based on complete information can help us to see things clearly."

Two mobile phones discovered in the car are being examined by detectives.

Sky's crime correspondent Martin Brunt said police will want to discover whether any calls were made in the preceding hours or days that might have involved a "rendezvous" in the remote layby.

Meanwhile, a detailed search by French and British police for clues at the al Hilli family's home is in its second day.

Officers placed a tent in the driveway of the house in Claygate, Surrey, on Saturday and also took evidence-gathering material, including boxes and bags, into the property.

Equipment was taken into the house, including an angle grinder which could be used to access locked cupboards or a safe.