Icelandic police are investigating the killings of a man and his adult daughter, who had been living in Ireland, in a Reykjavik hotel at the weekend.
Both victims, who were found dead at the Edition Hotel on Saturday, appear to have sustained stab wounds.
A woman, who is also a member of the same Irish-based family, has been arrested for questioning. She had also sustained wounds but they are not believed to be life-threatening.
All three are French nationals.
The victims are the arrested woman’s husband and daughter, all of whom were due to fly back to Ireland on Saturday.
It is understood the dead man was in his late 50s or early 60s and that his daughter was about 30 years old. The arrested woman is also in her late 50s or early 60s.
The Metropolitan Police in Reykjavik released a statement to the media confirming it was investigating the double killing.
“A French woman in her 60s was remanded in custody by the Reykjavík District Court until Friday, June 20th,” it said.
This was done “on the basis of investigative interests at the request of the Metropolitan Police in the interest of their investigation into the deaths of two French tourists at a hotel in the city centre”.
It added “the woman in custody was travelling with the deceased when the case arose”, adding that “no further information can be provided at this time”.
In reply to queries, Garda Headquarters in Dublin said: “An Garda Síochána typically does not comment on criminal investigations taking place in another jurisdiction.”
The double murder is a very rare event in Iceland where the number of murders has traditionally been in low single digits annually.
Ævar Palmi Palmason, assistant chief of the Central Investigation Department of the Metropolitan Police in Reykjavik, confirmed to local media that though the victims, and suspect, were French they were living in Ireland. Their relatives had been contacted with the help of the French embassy in Iceland and French police had also been contacted about the case.
Police were called to the hotel just before 7.15am on Saturday, the day the family had been due to fly back to Ireland after spending a week in Iceland.
The fourth floor of the hotel, where the victims’ remains were discovered, was sealed off and other guests were restricted in their movements as the scene was examined.
