According to the police, US actor Alec Baldwin shot a prop weapon during a film shoot and hit two people in the process.

The 42-year-old camerawoman Halyna Hutchins was fatally injured, it said on Thursday evening (local time) in a statement from the Santa Fe (New Mexico) police.

Director Joel Souza (48) was injured and is being treated in a hospital.

The investigation into the incident continues.

The incident took place on Thursday during the filming of the western "Rust" on the Bonanza Creek Ranch in New Mexico.

Baldwin is on board as the film's lead actor and producer.

The director is Souza, who previously staged the cop thriller “Crown Vic” (Eng. Title: “In the Net of Violence”).

The entertainment magazine Deadline had reported that "a leading actor" in the film cocked the gun during rehearsals without knowing that it contained live ammunition.

A spokesman for the production company confirmed that there had been an "accident" "in which a blank gun revolver was accidentally fired".

The police were called to the set by emergency call.

According to the police, Hutchins was flown to a hospital by helicopter and pronounced dead.

Souza was taken to a hospital in Santa Fe in an ambulance.

At first nothing was known about his condition.

Police are investigating

Investigators would interview eyewitnesses, it said.

Among other things, the weapon will be examined and how the bullet was released.

According to the police, no criminal charges have been made so far.

The Baldwin team did not initially respond to a request.

The actor had posted a photo of himself in western clothing and with a gray beard on Instagram the day before the incident.

In "Rust" he plays the bandit Harland Rust, who has a bounty on his head.

Together with his 13-year-old grandson, he has to flee from bounty hunters and law enforcement officers.

The cast includes Frances Fisher, Jensen Ackles, Brady Noon and Travis Fimmel, among others.

In his long career, Baldwin took on action roles in films such as "Hunt for Red October" or "Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation", but was also in dramas such as "Blue Jasmine", "Still Alice - My Life Without Yesterday" and 2019 to be seen in the crime film "Motherless Brooklyn".

The actor has been married to Hilaria Baldwin since 2012 and they have six children.

Baldwin has a daughter Ireland from his marriage to actress Kim Basinger.