PARIS — A bride was shot dead on her wedding night in a village near the south-east French city of Avignon after masked gunmen opened fire, local officials say.

One suspected attacker was also killed in an apparent exchange of fire, and the groom and a child of 13 were seriously wounded during the incident in the village of Goult.

A manhunt involving dozens of police officers and a helicopter is under way for an unknown number of suspects who managed to flee.

French media report that the violence may be linked to drug-related score-settling.

The authorities have opened an investigation into murder and attempted murder.

At about 04:30 (02:30 GMT) on Sunday the bride, 27, and groom, 25, were leaving the wedding party in the village hall when unidentified assailants opened fire, AFP news agency reports.

Initial reports suggested one of the attackers had been run over by the couple's car but Avignon prosecutor Florence Galtier referred to the supect as having been hit "in the exchange".

The surviving attackers, who had arrived by car, fled on foot after the shooting, the prosecutor said.

A total of 28 people were present in the hall at the time of the attack, police say. One woman was also lightly injured in the incident.

The hall was booked in March "for a wedding by people who don't live in the commune", local mayor Didier Perello said.

"I'm outraged," he added. "We're close to towns, I won't name them, where unfortunately, we've seen this kind of thing before."

Guillaume Molinas, a 50-year-old restaurant owner, said he feared the deadly attack would give the village of some 1,000 residents a "bad name".

"The last major incident in the village was 125 years ago," he was quoted as saying by AFP without giving details. — BBC