Image copyright AP Image caption New Orleans police are appealing for witnesses to the shooting, which killed one and injured nine

A man has been killed and nine others injured in a shooting in the historic French Quarter of the US city of New Orleans.

Police said the shooter opened fire shortly before 01:40 local time (07:40 GMT) on Sunday at the corner of Bourbon and Iberville streets.

Police Superintendent Michael Harrison told a news conference the victims were eight men and two women, aged 20 to 37.

He said two men had been arrested on firearms charges.

Supt Harrison said police do not know what motivated the shooting, and that investigations were ongoing.

He added that the Bourbon Street area, which is full of bars and popular with tourists, had an increased police presence at the time due to the Bayou Classic, an annual college football game taking place the night before at a nearby stadium.

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New Orleans Police Department had made eight other firearms arrests over the past 24 hours, Supt Harrison said.

The man killed in the shooting died in hospital, where the other nine victims remain in various conditions.

This is the second mass shooting on Bourbon Street in less than three years.

In June 2014, a young nursing student died and nine others were seriously injured after being caught up in a gunfight, around five blocks away from the present incident.