Survivalist pair die in shootout

South African police yesterday said they had shot dead a "survivalist" French couple being hunted for killing a policeman.

Philippe Meniere, 60, and his wife Agnes Jardel, 55, fired on police trying to evict them from their farmhouse last Friday. One officer was killed and another wounded.

Lieutenant Colonel Hendrick Swart said police found the couple barricaded at another farmhouse in the Sutherland area, northeast of Cape Town yesterday. A shootout ensued.

The couple had lived in isolation for years, having groceries and other supplies delivered so that they would not have to go into town, locals said.