The deaths of two women in July were caused by gunfire rather than lightning as first assumed, police announced on Wednesday.

Two men were also injured in the incident in Dongyuan county, Guangdong province.

Yang Caiying and her relative Yuan Hongdi were hit by gunfire outside Yuan's house located in the mountains on July 24. They later died at hospital, News Express reported.

Families of the two initially thought they might have been hit by lightning.

Yuan's husband Luo Guiqian and a villager tried to offer assistance to the two women but were also hit by gunfire.

Luo said later he saw a man holding a blunderbuss 10 meters away across a creek after he was injured.

The hospital and police concluded the two women were killed by lightning but Yang's husband had doubts and requested an autopsy.

Yuan's relatives found bullet parts at the scene of the incident and the police found bullet in bucket.

The police confirmed the cause of the injuries as gun shots and arrested a suspect, who is a relative of Luo, with two improvised guns that could be used for hunting.