Alps shootings: Bomb squad arrive at Saad al-Hilli home

The BBC's Keith Doyle described the scene as a bomb disposal vehicle arrived

Army bomb disposal experts have arrived at the Surrey home of a British man, shot dead with his wife, mother-in-law and a cyclist in the French Alps.

Surrey Police have evacuated neighbours and closed the road around the home of Saad al-Hilli, amid concerns over items found at the house in Claygate.
Meanwhile, French police have confirmed the death of Mr al-Hilli's 74-year old mother-in-law, but have not named her.
The al-Hilli's eldest daughter Zainab has been brought out of a coma.
The seven-year-old was shot and injured during the attack last week. Her four-year-old sister, Zeena, has returned to the UK.
Zeena lay undiscovered for eight hours after her parents, her grandmother, and a local cyclist died in Wednesday's attack in Chevaline.
French and British investigators, including Surrey Police firearms officers, started examining the Claygate home of Mr al-Hilli, 50, on Saturday as part of an attempt to establish a motive for the murders which took place during the family's camping holiday.
BBC reporter Keith Doyle said officers from the Royal Logistics Corps bomb disposal unit had arrived at the family home.
He added that police seem to be removing items from the house, and members of the media had been moved back from the scene.
In a statement, Surrey Police said: "Due to concerns around items found at the address in Claygate, officers have extended the cordon around the property.
"Neighbours in the immediate area are being evacuated. We will provide more information when we have it."

 

Mr al-Hilli's daughters are believed to be the only witnesses to Wednesday's killings

Maj Chris Hunter, a former British Army bomb disposal expert, told the BBC that police may have found a improvised explosive device (IED) hidden or disguised in the home.
He said that, rather than remove the device, army experts would "render it safe at source".
Maj Hunter added however it was difficult to speculate as to what, if anything, had been found.
Surrey Police said earlier that the investigation is French-led, with British officers facilitating requests rather than following their own leads.
On Sunday, French prosecutor Eric Maillaud has said seven-year-old Zainab is still under sedation and will not be able to be questioned for several more days.
But police hope she will eventually be able to provide more information about the shootings.
Mr Maillaud said her sister Zeena has returned to the UK.
The French prosecutor said: "She returned to the UK by air. On arrival she was put under the care of the authorities and the social services."
In an earlier briefing, Mr Maillaud told reporters Zeena had been interviewed, but he did not see a need to speak to her again as she "did not see anything".
Ballistics details Two relatives of the girls had travelled to France with a British social worker and police family liaison officers.
In France, police have recovered a laptop computer from the caravan in which the family was staying and are studying more video footage from around the crime site.

"Everyone talks about a dispute between the brothers as if it was an established fact - the brother says there was no dispute so let us remain cautious about that”

       Eric Maillaud French prosecutor

On Sunday, French prosecutor Mr Maillaud said police had returned to the scene of the crime and widened their area of investigation.

"We are trying to see how those who committed these acts were able to get away," he added.
French police have also asked their Italian and Swiss counterparts to help in the hunt for the killers.
Mr al-Hilli's wife, Iqbal, and her 74-year-old mother who held a Swedish passport, were killed during the attack in Chevaline, close to the tourist destination of Lake Annecy, on Wednesday.
The fourth victim, a cyclist whose body was found near the car after apparently stumbling across the attack, has been named as 45-year-old Sylvain Mollier.
In Annecy on Saturday, the French prosecutor told a news conference that the post-mortem examinations on the victims had been completed on Friday night.
"All four were killed by several bullets and all four were hit twice in the head," Mr Maillaud said.
The prosecutor, who had previously said 25 shots were fired in total, told reporters that officers had discovered more information about the ballistics but the details would not be disclosed publicly.

Saad al-Hilli and his family arrive at the Solitaire du Lac camp site on Monday. Close to the shores of Lac Annecy, in the Haute Savoie region of France, the area is popular with British tourists. They pitch their tents next to their caravan, shown above.

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A couple of days after the killings, French police said that a possible dispute over money between Mr al-Hilli and his brother, Zaid, was one of the lines of inquiry in the investigation.

This was based on credible information coming from the British police, they said.
But Mr Maillaud has since said that Zaid al-Hilli, who denied to UK police there was any dispute over "financial matters", would be interviewed "as a witness" by French officers "just like any other family member".
"Everyone talks about a dispute between the brothers as if it was an established fact. The brother says there was no dispute so let us remain cautious about that," he said.
Flowers have been left at the scene of the shooting in France, while floral tributes from neighbours have been placed at the al-Hilli home in recent days.
In a statement, the vicar of Claygate, the Reverend Philip Plyming, said: "I, and the church community of Claygate, share the shock felt by so many in the village and beyond at the recent tragic events in France."