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French tourists die in Mauritania Tourists shot dead in Mauritania
(30 minutes later)
Four French tourists have been shot dead in Mauritania, police say.Four French tourists have been shot dead in Mauritania, police say.
The four died after being first robbed at gunpoint, Mohamed Ould Lemine - the police chief of Aleg, a town close to where the incident occurred - told AP. The deaths occurred during a robbery, the police chief of the nearby town of Aleg told news agency Associated Press.
A fifth was reported to have been seriously injured in the attack, which occurred about 250km (160 miles) east of the capital, Nouakchott. The people attacked were a family and at least two children were among the dead, the French embassy in Mauritania told the AFP news agency.
The five are said to have stopped on the side of a road for a picnic when the gunmen approached demanding money. A fifth person - said to be the father of the family - was seriously injured in the attack, about 250km (160 miles) east of the capital, Nouakchott.
The gunmen took their money and then opened fire with automatic weapons, before speeding off in a car, the police chief told AP. The wounded man was receiving treatment in hospital in Aleg but would be transferred immediately to Nouakchott, the French embassy official added.
Demands
The five had stopped on the side of a road for a picnic when the gunmen approached demanding money, Aleg police chief Mohamed Ould Lemine told AP.
The gunmen took their money and then opened fire with automatic weapons, before speeding off in a car, the police chief said.
Mauritania is one of the world's poorest countries, but has hopes for future prosperity based on the exploitation of its offshore reserves of oil and natural gas.Mauritania is one of the world's poorest countries, but has hopes for future prosperity based on the exploitation of its offshore reserves of oil and natural gas.