The search of a reservoir by police investigating the disappearance of Madeleine McCann is underneath method.

Police divers had been seen coming into the water on the Arade dam on Tuesday morning, which is situated about 31 miles (50km) from the place the British toddler went lacking in Praia da Luz within the Algarve, 16 years in the past.

A ship was additionally despatched into the reservoir with two officers onboard.

Officers won't solely be specializing in the water, however the surrounding scrubland, Sky News Europe correspondent, Siobhan Robbins mentioned.

Vehicles and officers had been first seen on the web site of the reservoir on Monday after experiences of the brand new search emerged.

Local police mentioned they're co-ordinating searches within the Algarve on the request of German police and within the presence of British officers.

It comes after German police introduced in June 2020 that they believed Madeleine was lifeless and that suspect Christian B was doubtless accountable.

It is claimed the convicted little one abuser and drug vendor used to go to the reservoir, allegedly referring to it as "his paradise".

Christian B is at the moment in jail for raping a 72-year-old girl in the identical space of the Algarve area from the place Madeleine went lacking, however has not been charged with any crime associated to the disappearance.

He has all the time denied any involvement.

The waterway was beforehand searched in 2008 after Portuguese lawyer Marcos Aragao Correia paid for specialist divers to test the location.

He claimed to have been tipped off by felony contacts that Madeleine's physique was within the reservoir, however nothing was discovered.

A search was additionally carried out in 2014 of scrubland close to the place she vanished, after British police got permission to analyze by Portuguese authorities.

A German courtroom final month threw out extra rape and sexual offence expenses in opposition to Christian B that weren't linked to the McCann case.

He had been accused of three offences of aggravated rape and two offences of sexual abuse of youngsters in Portugal between December 2000 and June 2017.

However, the courtroom in Braunschweig dominated it had no jurisdiction within the case.

Lawyer Friedrich Fulscher mentioned the choice meant courtroom authorities couldn't have jurisdiction over any potential case about Madeleine both. The courtroom didn't touch upon his declare.

Madeleine was three years outdated when she went lacking in 2007 throughout a vacation together with her household.

Last yr, on the fifteenth anniversary of her disappearance, Madeleine's mother and father mentioned it was "essential" to be taught the reality of what occurred to their daughter.

Kate and Gerry McCann additionally marked Madeleine's twentieth birthday earlier this month with a vow that they might "never give up" the seek for her.

Content Source: information.sky.com