Bride shot dead in attack on French wedding party

A bride has been shot dead on her wedding night in a village near the south-eastern French city of Avignon after masked gunmen opened fire.

One suspected attacker was also killed in an apparent exchange of fire, and the groom and a 13-year-old child were seriously wounded during the incident in the village of Goult.

Two people were arrested following a search involving dozens of officers and a helicopter on Sunday, police sources told French media.

No information about the suspects has been released, but reports say the violence may be linked to drug-related score-settling.

At about 04:30 (02:30 GMT) on Sunday, the bride, 27, and groom, 25, were leaving the wedding venue in the village hall when attackers wearing balaclavas fired on the party, AFP news agency says.

One of the gunmen was killed in an exchange of fire, Avignon prosecutor Florence Galtier said. Three surviving attackers, who had arrived by car, fled on foot, she added.

After the arrest of two suspects on Sunday, police are now actively looking for the third, Le Figaro newspaper says.

A total of 28 people were present in the hall at the time of the attack, according to police. One woman was also wounded in the incident.

The hall was booked in March "for a wedding by people who don't live in the town", local Mayor Didier Perello said.

"I'm outraged," he added. "We're close to towns, I won't name them, where unfortunately, we've seen this kind of thing before."

Guillaume Molinas, a 50-year-old restaurant owner, said he feared the deadly attack would give the village of some 1,000 residents a "bad name".

"The last major incident in the village was 125 years ago," he told AFP, without giving further details.