A 34-year old British mountain biker has been shot dead by a hunter in the French Alps in what appears to have been an accident, police said on Sunday.
Britain’s Telegraph named the victim as Marc Sutton, a chef from south Wales who lived in the Haute-Savoie region of France near the village of Morzine where he and his girlfriend owned and ran a restaurant.
He was cycling down a mountain path in thick woods about 6pm on Saturday when he was struck by a single bullet as he passed near a group of hunters, prosecutor Philippe Toccanier said.
A 22-year-old man taking part in the hunt is believed to have fired the shot, police said.
The hunter was taken to hospital for shock.
He is being investigated on suspicion of manslaughter.
Toccanier said the cyclist certainly “couldn’t be confused with game, as he had a coloured helmet and a coloured mountain bike”.
Britain’s Foreign Office said it was “in contact with the local authorities” and providing assistance to the dead man’s family.
