French aid worker killed in Burundi

updated 1:51 a.m. ET Jan. 2, 2008

BUJUMBURA, Burundi - Gunmen opened fire on two French aid workers in eastern Burundi, killing one and wounding the other, police and aid officials said Tuesday.

The humanitarian workers were employed by French charity, Action Against Hunger, said Francois Danel, director of the Paris-based aid group. The two women, both in their 30s, had been volunteering with the organization in Burundi.

Danel said the attack occurred Monday night in the eastern town of Ruyigi, 109 miles east of the capital, Bujumbura.

"They were the object of several shots targeting the car," he told The Associated Press, adding the motive for the attack was unknown. "This was not a villainous crime. There was not a demand for money or goods."

One of the women died upon arrival at the hospital. The other underwent surgery "and her life is not in danger," said Danel.

Burundi's police spokesman Berre Channel Ntarabavanyi, in a statement broadcast on local radio, confirmed the attack. Other police officials said an investigation was underway, but no details were available.

In Paris, French President Nicolas Sarkozy condemned the attack and asked Burundi "authorities to do everything possible to shed light on this crime."

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