A body has been found during the search for missing teenager Nóra Quoirín in Malaysia.
The body was found shortly before 2pm local time today (7am Irish time) in a hilly area around 2km away from the resort where Nóra disappeared from.
A spokesman for the Lucie Blackman Trust, which is handling media enquiries for the family, confirmed the development.
In a statement, the charity said: "At this time we cannot confirm it is Nóra. However it sadly seems likely.
"Investigations are underway to confirm identity and cause of death."
UPDATE: police have airlifted the body to hospital for identification by the Quoirin family. No firm confirmation yet but Police believe it is Nora.
Please continue to respect the privacy of family and friends at this time and direct all enquiries to matt@lbtrust.org— LBT Global (@LBT_Global) August 13, 2019
Speaking this evening local time, police confirmed a body had been found.
Deputy Police Chief Mazlan Mansor told reporters: "We sent a forensic team and a pathologist to the scene.
"[They] confirmed there was a body there, which resembles Nóra - yet to be confirmed by the family."
The body has been taken by helicopter to a local hospital, and the Quoirin family is now said to be travelling to the mortuary.
Tánaiste Simon Coveney said authorities here and in France are working to provide "every assistance" to the Quoirin family.
He added that "all of our thoughts and prayers" are with the family following the discovery of a body earlier.
Irish + French embassies in Malaysia working together to provide every assistance to the Quoirin family. Irish embassy is in touch with Malaysian authorities on today’s discovery of a body. At this harrowing time all of our thoughts + prayers are with the family.
— Simon Coveney (@simoncoveney) August 13, 2019
Search
15-year-old Nóra disappeared on Sunday August 4th from the Dusun Holiday Resort near Kuala Lumpur, where she was staying with her parents.
Nóra's mother Meabh is from Belfast, while her father Sebastien is French.
Today marked the 10th day of the search operation.
There were reports of heavy activity around the resort this afternoon local time, with a forensics team seen arriving at the site of the search.
Irish, British and French authorities had been assisting local authorities in recent days.
