BUENOS AIRES: The ruling party governor of Argentina's prime oil-producing province was killed early Sunday of gunshots to the head, and his wife was being questioned by police.

The gun fired as Rio Negro Gov. Carlos Soria and his wife Susana were in their bedroom after spending New Year's Eve at their home in General Roca, authorities said. Emergency personnel found him bleeding in bed and took him alive to the local hospital, where he was declared dead just before 5 a.m., local media reported.

The governor's spokesman, Julian Goinhex confirmed the death but gave no further details about what happened to the 62-year-old Soria.

Soria led the province's Peronist Justicialist Party and won election by a wide margin in October. He was inaugurated on Dec. 10 as part of the nation's ruling Front for Victory, displacing the Radical Party that had long controlled the province.

Soria will be succeeded by his vice-governor, Alberto Weretilneck. In an interview with Radio 10, Weretilneck called it a domestic accident and said Soria and his wife were alone at the time.

Susana Freidos was being questioned by police Sunday to determine whether the shots were fired by accident or intentionally, local media reported.