Man, 25, shot dead by hunter as he cuts wood at home in Lot

A hunter has been taken into custody on suspicion of manslaughter after a fatal shooting in southwest France.

Emergency services were called to woods near Calvignac, Lot, late in the afternoon on Wednesday, December 2, after a 25-year-old suffered gunshot injuries. According to reports, he was just 100m from his home at the time of the incident and was cutting wood on his property.

Investigators said that the victim, a local man, was not involved in the hunt that was taking place. Ballistics tests were due to be carried out, but police believe the shooting was a tragic accident, according to regional newspaper La Dépêche.

The prefecture had recently authorised the hunting of deer and wild boar because "in this period, these animals are very destructive to crops and gardens".

During the latest confinement period, local exemptions were permitted allowing wild boar hunting to take place.

According to latest official figures from the Office français de la biodiversité, there were 11 fatal hunting accidents in the 2019-20 hunt season, an increase from seven in 2018-19 - but, hunters said, continuing a 20-year downward trend. In total, more than 410 hunting-related deaths have occurred since 2000, along with 2,800 injuries.