Alps murders: France examines Lake Annecy pistol

French officials are examining a Luger pistol found at the bottom of Lake Annecy to determine whether it could have been used in the 2012 murders of three members of an Iraqi-British family and a French cyclist in the Alps.

French prosecutors in Nanterre told AFP that British tourists swimming in the lake found the pistol on August 20. Prosecutors said it shows similarities to the weapon used in the attack.

Saad al-Hilli, 50, his wife Iqbal, 47, her mother Suhaila al-Allaf, 74, and French cyclist Sylvain Mollier, 45, were found shot dead on a mountain road near the southern end of Lake Annecy.

The al-Hillis' two daughters survived. A four-year-old was found hidden under the legs of her dead mother in the rear footwell, while a seven-year-old was shot in the shoulder and suffered a head wound.

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 possible motives for the attack.