Los Angeles (AFP)

The 42-year-old woman was evacuated by helicopter to a nearby hospital, but "succumbed to her injuries", while the second victim, a man of the same age, was admitted to intensive care, state services say. Santa Fe County Sheriff in a statement to AFP.

According to investigators who went to the scene after receiving an emergency call, the drama appears to be linked to a gun used as an accessory on set and which was activated during a scene in the film.

"Investigators are trying to find out what type of projectile was fired and how," said the statement, which did not specify the number of shots.

According to the site Deadline specializing in entertainment, one of the actors of "Rust" would have operated a weapon during a rehearsal without suspecting that live ammunition was there.

A production spokesperson then confirmed to the site that "there was an accident today on the set of Rust + in New Mexico involving the accidental firing of a blank revolver."

"The production has been halted for now. The safety of our actors and our team remains our number one priority," added the spokesperson.

The previous Brandon Lee

The filming site, Bonanza Creek Ranch, which is used extensively in westerns, was cordoned off Thursday afternoon, according to local media.

"Rust" is a western written and directed by Joel Souza, starring Alec Baldwin as co-producer and as outlaw Harland Rust, who comes to the aid of his 13-year-old grandson sentenced to be hanged for a murder.

Aged 63, Alec Baldwin has made himself particularly popular in the United States in recent years by his imitations of Donald Trump in the famous satirical show "Saturday Night Live".

A photo published Thursday morning on the artist's Instagram account, long before the drama, appears to show him at the filming location of "Rust", in which also the Australian Travis Fimmel, famous for his role as Ragnar Lothbrok in the series "Vikings".

In March 1993, actor Brandon Lee died on the set of the movie "The Crow" after being shot in the stomach.

The weapon used to fire during a scene at the then 27-year-old son of martial arts star Bruce Lee was believed to contain only blank bullets.

But the autopsy revealed that he had been hit by a .44 caliber projectile that got stuck in the barrel and dislodged by the detonation of the blank cartridge.

The prosecutor in charge of the investigation had concluded with the "negligence".

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