By . Peter Allen . Violent killings: Aerospace engineer Saad al-Hilli, from Surrey, and his family may have been the victims of a 'lone psychopath' The British girl who survived a quadruple murder in the French Alps owes her life to her mother who pleaded with her to 'hide', it emerged today. The revelation came as police confirmed that both Zeena Al-Hilli, four, and her older sister, Zainab, seven, were both 'gradually speaking' about the massacre. They were orphaned on September 5th when a lone gunman opened fire at an isolated layby close to the village of Chevaline, near Lake Annecy. Their father Saad Al-Hilli, 50, was shot dead, alongside their mother, Iqbal, 47, grandmother Suhaila Al-Allaf, 74, and French cyclist Sylvain Mollier, 45. Details of police notes about the killings leaked to Le Monde newspaper suggest that Zeena was sitting upright with the two women in the back of the family BMW. All were wearing seatbelts, but when the firing started, Mrs Al-Hilli had vital seconds in which she was able to unbuckle Zeena's and shout: 'hide!' As bullets sprayed into the back of the estate car, Zeena would have been able to lie on the floor, and even hide underneath her mother's skirt. She was so well hidden, that police who arrived at the scene after the murders did not at first notice her. Instead she lay silently for as long as eight hours, until detectives opened the locked doors of the car and found the traumatised child still shaking with fear. Commenting on Le Monde's report, an investigating source said: 'Zeena recalls her mother's instructions to hide. She has spoken about her ordeal, and so has her sister. They are both gradually speaking.' Zeena was found unscathed, while Zainab suffered life-threatening injuries, and had to be placed in an artificially induced coma. Police believe she was pistol-whipped by the gunman, suffering severe head injuries, and a bullet wound in a shoulder. Murder scene: Saad al-Hilli, his wife, Iqbal, and his mother-in-law were all killed in an isolated lay-by near Lake Annecy in Eastern France . Scene of a deadly crime: Officers are seen inspecting the forested region near Chevaline in south-west France . Despite the girls' horrific ordeal, . detectives on both sides of the Channel are still confident they may be . able to provide vital clues to finding the killer. They are currently at a secret . location close to the family home in Claygate, Surrey, and are being . held in conditions of utmost security. Eric Maillaud, the Annecy prosecutor . who is leading the investigation into the killings, said their safety . was 'paramount' and confirmed that they had offered 'important . information'. Key lines of enquiry include the . possibility that their father was involved in a serious financial . dispute with his brother, Zaid, over a family will. There were even claims in Le Monde . that former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein had paid 840,000 pounds into a . Swiss Bank account set up in the name of their father - however these were later denied by the French police. The family are originally from Baghdad, having moved to Britain in 1971. Other lines of enquiry include the . possibility that killer was a 'lone psychopath', or that Mr Mollier was . in fact the main target. Annecy chief prosecutor Eric Maillaud said: 'The hypothesis of a lone and psychologically disturbed killer is gaining ground.' Evidence . the gunman had used an obsolete 7.65mm Luger pistol dating back to the . 1930s also suggested he was not a professional assassin, police said. Prayers: Saad Al-Hilli, 50, his wife Iqbal, 47, and her 74-year-old mother Suhaila Al-Allaf, was laid to rest in the same grave last week . Mr Maillaud confirmed that the French . cyclist had at more bullets in his body than any other victim. There . have also been reports that he was shot first. A source told Le Monde: 'The theory of a . family feud is being pushed aside by investigators, who are now looking . at the possibility of a lone and psychologically disturbed killer. 'They . have carried out checks at all psychiatric hospitals in the region and . are tracking down all patients who may have been recently released or . were on day release. 'They are especially focusing those with previous convictions for gun violence or who were known to be attracted to firearms. 'Investigators . are on this basis also contacting gun clubs and hunting clubs in the . region. But so far they have had no satisfactory results to their . inquiries.' Annecy chief prosecutor Eric Millaud also admitted recently that there was 'no immediate prospect' of solving the crime. He added: 'It's a long task and there's nothing that gives hope of a result in the near future. 'We're investigating everything but it all takes a lot of time, trying to piece together the lives of all the people who have died, trying to understand a real motive for these killings. 'Perhaps if we can understand why they were killed we can work out who killed them but at the moment there are many questions. 'I think the investigation will take a very, very long time, unless we discover something that will suddenly enable us to understand everything. 'There are lines of inquiry but each raises so many questions and nothing suggests there will be a quick solution.' The two Frenchmen leading the hunt for the Alps killer have denied claims that German secret agents handed over documents proving links between the Al Hilli family and Saddam Hussein. Eric Maillaud, prosecutor in Annecy close to Chevaline where the massacre took place in September categorically ruled out the claim by Le Monde newspaper which appeared at the weekend. The article led to speculation that £800,000 in an acccount held by Saad Al Hilli in Switzerland had been given to his father by Saddam. ‘We are having to cope with questions from the victims’ families as to why they were not informed of this’, said Mr Maillaud in an interview with Agence France Presse. Asked about the Saddam-Al Hilli connection Benoît Vinneman, a senior Gendarme heading the investigation said: ‘It’s not true. No secret agent from any country has given us this kind of information’. M. Vinneman added that speculation as to the order in which the four victims were killed was also false, saying that investigators were still not sure who was killed first. Latest French reports suggest the massacre was committed by a mentally deranged killer riding a black motorcyle with saddlebags armed with a Luger pistol of a type which was issued to soldiers in the Swiss army eighty years ago. Mr Al-Hilli's father Kadhim was once . close to Saddam's Ba'ath Party, but fell foul of the tyrant in the . Seventies, and fled Iraq for Britain. Cash deposit: It was rumoured that Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, left, deposited £840,000 into the bank account of murdered Saad Al-Hilli's (pictured right) father Kadhim - a claim later denied by French police . Shortly . before the dictator was executed in 2006, it was revealed that he . withdraw around £620 million from the Iraqi central bank in 2003, which . he had begun to hide around the world. The assets would have been added . to millions already deposited in accounts in other countries – mainly . through Iraqis who had moved abroad. Saddam is known to have . concentrated large amounts in Switzerland and France, where he had at . least two homes and moored a £17 million yacht.
Saad Al-Hilli, 50, killed .
alongside wife, mother-in-law and a French cyclist .
Surviving daughters both 'gradually speaking' about the massacre .
By . Peter Allen . Violent killings: Aerospace engineer Saad al-Hilli, from Surrey, and his family may have been the victims of a 'lone psychopath' The British girl who survived a quadruple murder in the French Alps owes her life to her mother who pleaded with her to 'hide', it emerged today. The revelation came as police confirmed that both Zeena Al-Hilli, four, and her older sister, Zainab, seven, were both 'gradually speaking' about the massacre. They were orphaned on September 5th when a lone gunman opened fire at an isolated layby close to the village of Chevaline, near Lake Annecy. Their father Saad Al-Hilli, 50, was shot dead, alongside their mother, Iqbal, 47, grandmother Suhaila Al-Allaf, 74, and French cyclist Sylvain Mollier, 45. Details of police notes about the killings leaked to Le Monde newspaper suggest that Zeena was sitting upright with the two women in the back of the family BMW. All were wearing seatbelts, but when the firing started, Mrs Al-Hilli had vital seconds in which she was able to unbuckle Zeena's and shout: 'hide!' As bullets sprayed into the back of the estate car, Zeena would have been able to lie on the floor, and even hide underneath her mother's skirt. She was so well hidden, that police who arrived at the scene after the murders did not at first notice her. Instead she lay silently for as long as eight hours, until detectives opened the locked doors of the car and found the traumatised child still shaking with fear. Commenting on Le Monde's report, an investigating source said: 'Zeena recalls her mother's instructions to hide. She has spoken about her ordeal, and so has her sister. They are both gradually speaking.' Zeena was found unscathed, while Zainab suffered life-threatening injuries, and had to be placed in an artificially induced coma. Police believe she was pistol-whipped by the gunman, suffering severe head injuries, and a bullet wound in a shoulder. Murder scene: Saad al-Hilli, his wife, Iqbal, and his mother-in-law were all killed in an isolated lay-by near Lake Annecy in Eastern France . Scene of a deadly crime: Officers are seen inspecting the forested region near Chevaline in south-west France . Despite the girls' horrific ordeal, . detectives on both sides of the Channel are still confident they may be . able to provide vital clues to finding the killer. They are currently at a secret . location close to the family home in Claygate, Surrey, and are being . held in conditions of utmost security. Eric Maillaud, the Annecy prosecutor . who is leading the investigation into the killings, said their safety . was 'paramount' and confirmed that they had offered 'important . information'. Key lines of enquiry include the . possibility that their father was involved in a serious financial . dispute with his brother, Zaid, over a family will. There were even claims in Le Monde . that former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein had paid 840,000 pounds into a . Swiss Bank account set up in the name of their father - however these were later denied by the French police. The family are originally from Baghdad, having moved to Britain in 1971. Other lines of enquiry include the . possibility that killer was a 'lone psychopath', or that Mr Mollier was . in fact the main target. Annecy chief prosecutor Eric Maillaud said: 'The hypothesis of a lone and psychologically disturbed killer is gaining ground.' Evidence . the gunman had used an obsolete 7.65mm Luger pistol dating back to the . 1930s also suggested he was not a professional assassin, police said. Prayers: Saad Al-Hilli, 50, his wife Iqbal, 47, and her 74-year-old mother Suhaila Al-Allaf, was laid to rest in the same grave last week . Mr Maillaud confirmed that the French . cyclist had at more bullets in his body than any other victim. There . have also been reports that he was shot first. A source told Le Monde: 'The theory of a . family feud is being pushed aside by investigators, who are now looking . at the possibility of a lone and psychologically disturbed killer. 'They . have carried out checks at all psychiatric hospitals in the region and . are tracking down all patients who may have been recently released or . were on day release. 'They are especially focusing those with previous convictions for gun violence or who were known to be attracted to firearms. 'Investigators . are on this basis also contacting gun clubs and hunting clubs in the . region. But so far they have had no satisfactory results to their . inquiries.' Annecy chief prosecutor Eric Millaud also admitted recently that there was 'no immediate prospect' of solving the crime. He added: 'It's a long task and there's nothing that gives hope of a result in the near future. 'We're investigating everything but it all takes a lot of time, trying to piece together the lives of all the people who have died, trying to understand a real motive for these killings. 'Perhaps if we can understand why they were killed we can work out who killed them but at the moment there are many questions. 'I think the investigation will take a very, very long time, unless we discover something that will suddenly enable us to understand everything. 'There are lines of inquiry but each raises so many questions and nothing suggests there will be a quick solution.' The two Frenchmen leading the hunt for the Alps killer have denied claims that German secret agents handed over documents proving links between the Al Hilli family and Saddam Hussein. Eric Maillaud, prosecutor in Annecy close to Chevaline where the massacre took place in September categorically ruled out the claim by Le Monde newspaper which appeared at the weekend. The article led to speculation that £800,000 in an acccount held by Saad Al Hilli in Switzerland had been given to his father by Saddam. ‘We are having to cope with questions from the victims’ families as to why they were not informed of this’, said Mr Maillaud in an interview with Agence France Presse. Asked about the Saddam-Al Hilli connection Benoît Vinneman, a senior Gendarme heading the investigation said: ‘It’s not true. No secret agent from any country has given us this kind of information’. M. Vinneman added that speculation as to the order in which the four victims were killed was also false, saying that investigators were still not sure who was killed first. Latest French reports suggest the massacre was committed by a mentally deranged killer riding a black motorcyle with saddlebags armed with a Luger pistol of a type which was issued to soldiers in the Swiss army eighty years ago. Mr Al-Hilli's father Kadhim was once . close to Saddam's Ba'ath Party, but fell foul of the tyrant in the . Seventies, and fled Iraq for Britain. Cash deposit: It was rumoured that Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, left, deposited £840,000 into the bank account of murdered Saad Al-Hilli's (pictured right) father Kadhim - a claim later denied by French police . Shortly . before the dictator was executed in 2006, it was revealed that he . withdraw around £620 million from the Iraqi central bank in 2003, which . he had begun to hide around the world. The assets would have been added . to millions already deposited in accounts in other countries – mainly . through Iraqis who had moved abroad. Saddam is known to have . concentrated large amounts in Switzerland and France, where he had at . least two homes and moored a £17 million yacht.
speaking' about the massacre. They were orphaned Al-Hilli, 50, was shot dead, alongside their 74, and French cyclist Sylvain Mollier, 45. sister. They are both gradually speaking.' Zeena