Teenager, 14, accidentally shoots father dead before turning gun on himself

The boy fatally wounded his father when he slipped and shot him in the leg

A 14-year-old boy accidentally shot his father before turning the gun on himself (Getty Images )

A French teenager committed suicide after accidentally slipping on some leaves during a boar hunt, causing him to pull the trigger of a gun he was holding and shoot his own father.

Father and son had been out hunting on Saturday in the Alpes-de-Haute Provence when the tragedy struck. The bullet hit the 42-year old man in the leg, leaving him fatally wounded.

The 14-year-old immediately rang a family member who in turn contacted emergency services, but his father died after a haemorrhage before paramedics arrived. In despair, the boy shot himself next to his father's body upon realising he was dead, The Telegraph has reported.

“It’s a hunting accident caused unintentionally by the boy who, realising the irreversible consequences [of his action], turned the weapon on himself and killed himself,” prosecutor Stéphane Kellenberger said.

The tragic incident is the latest in a string of hunting accidents in the country. On Sunday, a 58-year-old man died from the head injuries he sustained when another hunter accidentally shot him in northern France.

ONCFS, the national board of wildlife and hunting in France, has recorded179 injuries including 21 fatalities from hunting incidents within the last 12 months. In September the Association pour la Protection des Animaux Sauvages (APAS) called for hunting to be banned on Sundays due to the increase in accidents, in the hope that people in France will instead "take-up cycling, walking and outdoor past-times".