Hiker feared he would be shot by al-Hilli hitman

A walker has described his horror on arrival at the remote spot where a British man was murdered alongside his wife and mother-in-law in a shooting spree in the French Alps.

The man, named only as Philippe D, 41, recalled he was unable to rouse seven-year-old Zainab al-Hilli who survived the ordeal, believing she was dead as she lay on the ground close to the family car.

He said the carnage in front of him resembled a scene from a film and he described an eerie silence in the secluded car park where four people were shot to death.

Mr D told Le Parisien that he set out with two friends on Wednesday afternoon to go walking.

As they drove up a hill in the Combe d’Ire forest, near Chevaline, they were met by a “panic-stricken” British cyclist making his way down from the murder scene.

He said the cyclist, a former member of the RAF, tried to explain in bad French what lay ahead.

Mr D continued up the hill to the car park where he saw the bodies of Saad al-Hilli, 50, his dentist wife Iqbal and her mother in their bullet-ridden BMW.

A fourth body, that of Sylvain Mollier, 45, a French cyclist who apparently stumbled across the attack, lay on the ground.

“I immediately understood,” said Mr D.

“I approached the car. I did not touch anything but I saw that there was nothing that could be done. There was no sign of life.”

He turned his attention to Zainab, who was lying by the car.

“She did not respond when we addressed her,” said Mr D. “I clapped my hands but she did not react. I even spoke a few words of English because I saw that the car had a British number plate but nothing happened.

“As far as I could tell, she was dead.”

Mr D said he and his friends feared for their own safety, wondering if an assailant was still in the area.

They believe they could have been killed if they had reached the spot a few minutes earlier.

He said the group saw no one as they drove through the forest and that the killer or killers could have escaped using a winding lane which leads directly to the motorway.

It emerged the family moved from one campsite to another two days before they were gunned down.

A Dutch couple believed the group planned to spend a week at the three-star Village Camping Europa site in St Jorioz after they arrived on Saturday, but they left on Monday.

Staff at Village Camping Europa described the family as “quiet, nice people”.

A manager, who refused to give her name, said: “They came to stay with us on Saturday evening and left on Monday.”

She dismissed suggestions Mr al-Hilli behaved oddly, adding: “There was nothing strange. All families leave the campsite at all sorts of times.”

She said comments about a mysterious man described as appearing “to come from the Balkans” were “ridiculous”.

Sources said the victims were killed with the same gun, fuelling speculation they were targeted by a contract killer. Each person was shot twice in the head.

Police are examining all aspects of Mr al-Hilli’s life to find a motive for the murders, looking at his personal and professional links.

His brother, Zaid al-Hilli, approached British police to deny any family feud over an inheritance.

Detectives in Surrey continued their search of his home yesterday.