President Francois Hollande has said authorities will "do our utmost to find the perpetrators" following the brutal deaths of four people - including three members of a British family - in the French Alps.

Mr Hollande, making his third visit to the UK today, joined David Cameron in pledging to get to the bottom of the tragedy.

The Prime Minister described the deaths as "terrible", adding: "I have spoken to the British ambassador in France and consular staff are working very hard so that we do everything we can... and to find out what happened in this very tragic case.

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A gendarme stands by the caravan where the slain British family were holidaying in a camp site of Saint Jorioz, near Annecy


"Obviously the faster we can get to the bottom of what happened, the better."

Yesterday afternoon, three members of the same family were found with fatal head injuries after a gunman opened fire on them while they were travelling through the picturesque Haute-Savoie region near Lake Annecy in their BMW estate car.

The driver was named by French media as Saad al-Hilli, from Claygate, near Esher in Surrey. Neighbours said they believed he was travelling with his wife, Iqbal, and his mother-in-law, all of whom died during the massacre, alongside a French cyclist, found at the scene.

Mr al-Hilli's daughters, named locally as Zainab, seven, and Zeena, four, were also believed to have been in the vehicle when the gunman struck. Zainab was found violently beaten and is in a coma, fighting for her life.

Zeena was found alive underneath the bodies of her family about eight hours after the massacre.

She was found "terrorised, motionless, in the midst of the bodies" after fellow campers at a nearby site told officers the family had two children, public prosecutor Eric Maillaud said. He described the attack as an act of "gross savagery".

One theory is that shots could have been fired during a bungled armed robbery, with the dead cyclist - named as Sylvain Mollier - being a witness to the crime.

Addressing journalists at ParalympicsGB House in Westfield this afternoon, Mr Hollande offered his sympathy to those affected by the killings.

Speaking through an interpreter, he said: "I expressed my emotion earlier today to the British people in relation to the terrible deaths.

"Both the French and the British family have been impacted by this terrible event and we will do our utmost to find the perpetrators, to find the reasons behind that event.

"Our police are co-operating and everything that is found will be shared."

SEE ALSO

Was Killing Of British Family 'Car-Jacking' by Armed Bandits?

Cyclist Killed In British Car Shooting Named

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  • Police around the BMW at scene of shooting in woods near Chevaline in the French Alps where british family and cyclist were shot dead

  • Police around the BMW at scene of shooting in woods near Chevaline in the French Alps where british family and cyclist were shot dead

  • French gendarmes talk with investigators near the caravan of the British family hit by gun attack on September 6, 2012 in the camping "Le Solitaire du lac" in the French Alpine village of Saint-Jorioz. A four-year-old girl spent hours curled up under her mother's body and miraculously survived the deadly attack that left her father, mother and grandmother dead and her elder sister seriously injured, officials said. (Photo credit: PHILIPPE DESMAZES/AFP/GettyImages)

  • A French gendarme stands guard near the caravan of the British family hit by gun attack on September 6, 2012 in the camping "Le Solitaire du lac" in the French Alpine village of Saint-Jorioz. A four-year-old girl miraculously survived the deadly attack that left her father, mother and grandmother dead and her elder sister seriously injured, officials said. (Photo credit: PHILIPPE DESMAZES/AFP/GettyImages)

  • A vehicle of rescuers arrives on Septembre 6, 2012, where four people were shot dead in or close to a British-registered car that was found in a forest car park on the edge of the French Alpine village of Chevaline. The car, a BMW, contained the bodies of a man, in the front, and two women who were seated in the back, police said. (Photo credit: JEAN-PIERRE CLATOT/AFP/GettyImages)

  • A road sign is seen while a Gendarme blocks access to a killing site near Chevaline, French Alps, Wednesday Sept. 5, 2012. French authorities say at least four people have been shot to death in a forest in the Alps. An official with the regional administration for the Haute-Savoie region says three of the bodies were found in a BMW registered in Britain. (AP Photo/Alexis Moro)

  • Gendarmes block access to a killing site near Chevaline, French Alps, Wednesday Sept. 5, 2012. French authorities say at least four people have been shot to death in a forest in the Alps. An official with the regional administration for the Haute-Savoie region says three of the bodies were found in a BMW registered in Britain. (AP Photo/Alexis Moro)

  • Gendarmes block access to a killing site near Chevaline, French Alps, Wednesday Sept. 5, 2012. French authorities say at least four people have been shot to death in a forest in the Alps.An official with the regional administration for the Haute-Savoie region says three of the bodies were found in a BMW registered in Britain. (AP Photo/Alexis Moro)

  • Gendarmes block access to a killing site near Chevaline, French Alps, Wednesday Sept. 5, 2012. French authorities say at least four people have been shot to death in a forest in the Alps.An official with the regional administration for the Haute-Savoie region says three of the bodies were found in a BMW registered in Britain. (AP Photo/Alexis Moro)

  • Gendarmes block access to a killing site near Chevaline, French Alps, Wednesday Sept. 5, 2012. French authorities say at least four people have been shot to death in a forest in the Alps.An official with the regional administration for the Haute-Savoie region says three of the bodies were found in a BMW registered in Britain. (AP Photo/Alexis Moro)

  • Gendarmes block access to a killing site near Chevaline, French Alps, Wednesday, Sept. 5, 2012. French authorities say at least four people have been shot to death in a forest in the Alps. An official with the regional administration for the Haute-Savoie region says three of the bodies were found in a BMW registered in Britain. (AP Photo / Alexis Moro)

  • Gendarmes block access to a killing site near Chevaline, French Alps, Wednesday, Sept. 5, 2012. French authorities say at least four people have been shot to death in a forest in the Alps. An official with the regional administration for the Haute-Savoie region says three of the bodies were found in a BMW registered in Britain. (AP Photo / Alexis Moro)

  • A Gendarme's car heads to a killing site near Chevaline, French Alps, Wednesday Sept.5, 2012. French authorities say at least four people have been shot to death in a forest in the Alps. An official with the regional administration for the Haute-Savoie region says three of the bodies were found in a BMW registered in Britain. (AP Photo/Alexis Moro)

  • Alps shooting

    Members of the public arrive with flowers at the home of French shooting victim, Saad al-Hilli in Claygate, Surrey, as French police investigating the murder of four people are sending four officers to the UK to work with British detectives and plan to search the house of victim Saad al-Hilli.

  • Alps shooting

    A police officer accepts flowers outside the home of French shooting victim, Saad al-Hilli in Claygate, Surrey, as French police investigating the murder of four people are sending four officers to the UK to work with British detectives and plan to search the house of victim Saad al-Hilli.

  • Alps shooting

    A police officer lays flowers outside the home of French shooting victim, Saad al-Hilli in Claygate, Surrey, as French police investigating the murder of four people are sending four officers to the UK to work with British detectives and plan to search the house of victim Saad al-Hilli.

  • Alps shooting

    British Scenes of Crime Officers (SOCO) outside the home of French shooting victim, Saad al-Hilli in Claygate, Surrey, as French police investigating the murder of four people are sending four officers to the UK to work with British detectives and plan to search the house of victim Saad al-Hilli.

  • Alps shooting

    A British Scenes of Crime Officer (SOCO) outside the home of French shooting victim, Saad al-Hilli in Claygate, Surrey, as French police investigating the murder of four people are sending four officers to the UK to work with British detectives and plan to search the house of victim Saad al-Hilli.

  • Alps shooting

    A British Scenes of Crime Officer (SOCO) outside the home of French shooting victim, Saad al-Hilli in Claygate, Surrey, as French police investigating the murder of four people are sending four officers to the UK to work with British detectives and plan to search the house of victim Saad al-Hilli.

  • Alps shooting

    British Scenes of Crime Officers (SOCO) outside the home of French shooting victim, Saad al-Hilli in Claygate, Surrey, as French police investigating the murder of four people are sending four officers to the UK to work with British detectives and plan to search the house of victim Saad al-Hilli.

  • Alps shooting

    British Scenes of Crime Officers (SOCO) outside the home of French shooting victim, Saad al-Hilli in Claygate, Surrey, as French police investigating the murder of four people are sending four officers to the UK to work with British detectives and plan to search the house of victim Saad al-Hilli.

  • Alps shooting

    Forensic officers outside the home of French shooting victim, Saad al-Hilli in Claygate, Surrey, as French police investigating the murder of four people are sending four officers to the UK to work with British detectives and plan to search the house of victim Saad al-Hilli.

  • Alps shooting

    Forensic officers outside the home of French shooting victim, Saad al-Hilli in Claygate, Surrey, as French police investigating the murder of four people are sending four officers to the UK to work with British detectives and plan to search the house of victim Saad al-Hilli.

  • Alps shooting

    British police forensic officers Saturday Sept. 8, 2012, outside the home of Saad al-Hilli, in Claygate, Britain, during investigations into the death of four people shot dead on Wednesday in the French Alps. French police officers are expected to arrive Saturday in Britain as part of an investigation into the slayings of the British-Iraqi al-Hilli family members while vacationing in France. The children of the al-Hilli family survived the killing, as 4-year-old daughter Zeena stayed hidden below the body of her dead mother, and 7-year-old Zaina who was shot in the shoulder and beaten. (AP Photo / Steve Parsons, PA) UNITED KINGDOM OUT - NO SALES - NO ARCHIVES

  • Alps shooting

    British Scenes of Crime forensic officers (SOCO) Saturday Sept. 8, 2012, outside the home of Saad al-Hilli, in Claygate, Britain, during investigations into the death of four people shot dead on Wednesday in the French Alps. French police officers are expected to arrive Saturday in Britain as part of an investigation into the slayings of the British-Iraqi al-Hilli family members while vacationing in France. The children of the al-Hilli family survived the killing, as 4-year-old daughter Zeena stayed hidden below the body of her dead mother, and 7-year-old Zaina who was shot in the shoulder and beaten. (AP Photo / Steve Parsons, PA) UNITED KINGDOM OUT - NO SALES - NO ARCHIVES

  • Alps shooting

    British police officers places flower tributes Saturday Sept. 8, 2012, outside the home of Saad al-Hilli, in Claygate, Britain, during investigations into the death of four people shot dead on Wednesday in the French Alps. French police officers are expected to arrive Saturday in Britain as part of an investigation into the slayings of the British-Iraqi al-Hilli family members while vacationing in France. The children of the al-Hilli family survived the killing, as 4-year-old daughter Zeena stayed hidden below the body of her dead mother, and 7-year-old Zaina who was shot in the shoulder and beaten. (AP Photo / Steve Parsons, PA) UNITED KINGDOM OUT - NO SALES - NO ARCHIVES

  • Alps shooting

    British police forensic officers Saturday Sept. 8, 2012, outside the home of Saad al-Hilli, in Claygate, Britain, during investigations following the deaths of four people shot dead on Wednesday in the French Alps. French police officers are expected to arrive Saturday in Britain as part of an investigation into the slayings of the British-Iraqi al-Hilli family members while vacationing in France. The children of the al-Hilli family survived the killing, as 4-year-old daughter Zeena stayed hidden below the body of her dead mother, and 7-year-old Zaina who was shot in the shoulder and beaten. (AP Photo / Steve Parsons, PA) UNITED KINGDOM OUT - NO SALES - NO ARCHIVES

  • Alps shooting

    The home of Saad al-Hilli, in Claygate, Britain, who was shot dead on Wednesday with three others while vacationing in the French Alps, as it is secured by British police Saturday Sept. 8, 2012. French police officers are expected to arrive Saturday in Britain as part of an investigation into the slayings of the British-Iraqi al-Hilli family. The children of the al-Hilli family survived the killing, as 4-year-old daughter Zeena stayed hidden below the body of her dead mother, and 7-year-old Zaina who was shot in the shoulder and beaten. (AP Photo / Steve Parsons, PA) UNITED KINGDOM OUT - NO SALES - NO ARCHIVES

  • Alps shooting

    British police secure the area Saturday Sept. 8, 2012, outside the home of Saad al-Hilli, in Claygate, Britain, who was shot dead on Wednesday with three others while vacationing in the French Alps. French police officers are expected to arrive Saturday in Britain as part of an investigation into the slayings of the British-Iraqi al-Hilli family. The children of the al-Hilli family survived the killing, as 4-year-old daughter Zeena stayed hidden below the body of her dead mother, and 7-year-old Zaina who was shot in the shoulder and beaten. (AP Photo / Steve Parsons, PA) UNITED KINGDOM OUT - NO SALES - NO ARCHIVES

  • Alps shooting

    The home of French shooting victim, Saad al-Hilli in Claygate, Surrey, as French police investigating the murder of four people are sending four officers to the UK to work with British detectives and plan to search the house of victim Saad al-Hilli.

  • Alps shooting

    Police outside the home of French shooting victim, Saad al-Hilli in Claygate, Surrey, as French police investigating the murder of four people are sending four officers to the UK to work with British detectives and plan to search the house of victim Saad al-Hilli.

  • Alps shooting

    Police on Thursday Sept. 6, 2012 stand outside the home of Saad al-Hilli in Claygate, Surrey, who has been named by French media as one of the members of a British family who was shot dead by a gunman in the French Alps. (AP Photo/Steve Parsons/PA) UNITED KINGDOM OUT NO SALES NO ARCHIVE

  • General view of the hospital of Grenoble , France, Thursday, Sept. 6, 2012, where the young British girl is hospitalized after four people were found shot to death on a forest road, last Wednesday, in the French alps. Immobilized with fear, a 4-year-old British girl huddled for eight hours beneath the legs of her slain mother in the back of a car filled with corpses on a remote Alpine road — all while French investigators stood nearby, unaware the girl was there. The stunning discovery Thursday of the girl, apparently unharmed, heightened the drama around a mysterious shooting rampage that left four adults dead and a 7-year-old girl hospitalized with bullet wounds and skull fractures. The reason for the killing, in a wooded area near the village of Chevaline, remains unclear. (AP Photo/Lionel Cironneau)

  • General view of the hospital of Grenoble , France, Thursday, Sept. 6, 2012, where the young british girl is hospitalized after four people were found shot to death on a forest road, on Wednesday, in the French alps. Immobilized with fear, a 4-year-old British girl huddled for eight hours beneath the legs of her slain mother in the back of a car filled with corpses on a remote Alpine road — all while French investigators stood nearby, unaware the girl was there. The stunning discovery Thursday of the girl, apparently unharmed, heightened the drama around a mysterious shooting rampage that left four adults dead and a 7-year-old girl hospitalized with bullet wounds and skull fractures. The reason for the killing, in a wooded area near the village of Chevaline, remains unclear. (AP Photo/Lionel Cironneau)

  • Alps shooting

    A Royal Logistic Corps bomb disposal truck arrives at the cordon close to the home of Saad al-Hilli in Claygate, Surrey, as police evacuated an area around his home due to "concerns" about items found at the address.

  • Alps shooting

    A Royal Logistic Corps bomb disposal truck arrives at the cordon close to the home of Saad al-Hilli in Claygate, Surrey, as police evacuated an area around his home due to "concerns" about items found at the address.

  • Alps shooting

    Police close to the home of Saad al-Hilli in Claygate, Surrey, as they evacuated an area around his home due to "concerns" about items found at the address.

  • Alps shooting

    Police stand outside the home of Saad al-Hilli in Claygate, Surrey, who has been named by French media as one of the members of a British family who was shot dead by a gunman in the French Alps.

  • Alps shooting

    Police walk close to the home of Saad al-Hilli in Claygate, Surrey, as they evacuated an area around his home due to "concerns" about items found at the address.

  • Alps shooting

    Police close to the home of Saad al-Hilli in Claygate, Surrey, as they evacuated an area around his home due to "concerns" about items found at the address.

  • Alps shooting

    Police search teams leave the home of French shooting victim, Saad al-Hilli in Claygate, Surrey, after police resumed their search at the home of the family gunned down in the French Alps.

  • Alps shooting

    A police firearms officer at the home of French shooting victim, Saad al-Hilli in Claygate, Surrey, as police resumed their search at the home of the family gunned down in the French Alps.

  • Alps shooting

    Police firearms officers at the home of French shooting victim, Saad al-Hilli in Claygate, Surrey, as police resumed their search at the home of the family gunned down in the French Alps.

  • Alps shooting

    Police at the home of French shooting victim, Saad al-Hilli in Claygate, Surrey, as police resumed their search at the home of the family gunned down in the French Alps.

  • Saad al-Hilli killed in the French Alps