Two people have been hit by bullets during a gunfight re-enactment in Arizona.

Police in the town of Tombstone said the skit was supposed to involve blanks but one of the actor's guns fired lived rounds during a stand-off.

Actor Ken Curtis was hit and treated at the scene before being flown to a hospital in Tucson, where he was undergoing surgery to remove the bullet. Other rounds struck businesses and a bystander.

Tombstone is a popular tourist attraction as people flock to the former Old West town to see gunfight re-enactments and history dating back to the days of Wyatt Earp, Doc Holliday and the OK Corral.