MARSEILLE, Sept 12 — A 24-year-old woman has died after being hit by a stray bullet in an attack on a drug-dealing hotspot in the French Mediterranean city of Marseille, prosecutors said today.

The woman was hit late on Sunday evening when a burst of fire from a Kalashnikov rifle tore through her apartment building. She was declared brain dead yesterday.

Around 40 people have been killed in drug-related violence in Marseille this year — a situation described as a "bloodbath” by city authorities.

"This is a total tragedy,” Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin told broadcaster France Bleu during a visit to the port city, which has a history of drug-related violence.

Sunday’s shooting raises new concerns about the impact of drug crime on Marseille, which is set to host fixtures for the Rugby World Cup and a visit from Pope Francis in the coming weeks.

The dead woman was hit by a bullet that pierced the plywood surround of her third-floor window, the city’s chief prosecutor, Dominique Laurens, said.

"She was admitted to hospital with a serous wound to the head and in danger for her life. She died in the early hours of Tuesday,” she added.

Two other women, aged 79 and 86, and a 71-year-old man escaped unharmed after their apartments were also struck by bullets.

All had been inadvertently caught up in an attack on a drug-dealing hotspot in the Saint-Thys district.

The area is classed as a priority security zone but is not in Marseille’s most deprived northern neighbourhoods.

Investigators found 23 Kalashnikov cartridge casings on the scene.

Yesterday, a 55-year-old man was killed in a shooting in northern Marseille, police sources told AFP.

Two more people uninvolved in the drug trade were killed earlier this year, a 43-year-old woman and a 63-year-old man. — AFP