Alps shooting girl leaves France

Zainab Al-Hilli's state of health is understood to have improved in recent days, allowing her to travel back to the UK.

Her departure follows that of her younger sister, Zeena, who returned to the UK last week after escaping the brutal attack unscathed. The four-year-old survived by cowering under her mother's skirts but she was only discovered eight hours after the killings.

Surrey Police have confirmed that Zainab Al-Hilli is returning to the UK on Friday.

A schoolgirl whose parents and grandmother were gunned down in a shooting spree in the Alps has left France, sources have said.

Zainab al-Hilli, seven, was placed in a medically induced coma after she was shot in the shoulder and badly beaten in the massacre which killed her three relatives last week.

The child, who is seen as one of the key witnesses in the case, left hospital at about 8am on Friday, accompanied by British police.