A female body has been found by teams searching for missing British teenager Nora Quoirin who vanished in Malaysia.
Earlier today a man phoned the police hotline to say he had found the body.
The discovery was made by a waterfall as the search entered its tenth day in the jungle.
Two forensics vans as well as other police vehicles have been seen entering the area, which is now sealed off with police tape.
The 15-year-old, who has special needs, was reported missing on August 4 from an eco-resort in Dusun, where she was staying with her family.
Nora’s parents are an Irish-French couple who live in London and have two younger children.
Her father, Sebastien, said he discovered his daughter missing on Sunday at around 8am after finding a downstairs window wide open. He has now been pictured arriving at the scene.
Around 350 people had joined the search for Nora in dense jungle and a river.
The area that has been sealed off by police today is less than a kilometre from where she was last seen.
At 4.30pm local time, police chief Mohamed Yusop said a body had been found at 2.30pm.
Speaking in Malay, he said: “We found a female body, with white skin, around two kilometres from the house where she was staying.
“A man had phoned the police hotline at 1.15pm to say he had found a body by the waterfall.
“The body is intact.”
Hours before the body was found volunteer searcher Shirley Yap told how she was going to look around a waterfall.
She said: "We had heard she was excited about seeing a waterfall when she arrived in the resort.
"We are going to look around that area and follow the stream down the mountain."
It is believed the waterfall is an hour and 20 minute walk away from the Dusun Rainforest Resort.
At 4.15pm local time, her parents Meabh, 45, and Sebastien, 47, were seen being driven through the cordon in a black Sedan.
Two forensics vans, as well as other police vehicles, had been seen entering the area just after 3.30pm.
A French Embassy official was also seen standing at the perimeter of the area, which is sealed off with police tape.
An officer at the scene told the Mirror: “We think we have found a body, but we need to confirm it's her. Please be patient. The area is difficult to access.
“We will let you know as soon as it's confirmed."
A source said: “The police need to confirm its definitely Nora, because the local population bury their relatives in shallow graves in the area.
“They are trying to get down there now.”
A spokesman for the Lucie Blackman Trust which is handling media enquiries for the family of missing teenager Nora Quoirin said he is aware of reports that a body has been found in the search, adding that they are urgently seeking clarification, but it is "likely" it is her.
A statement released by The Lucie Blackman Trust said: "We can confirm a body has been found in the search for Nora Quoirin.
"At this time we cannot confirm it is Nora. However it sadly seems likely. Investigations are underway to confirm identity and cause of death.
"The Charity will update as soon as possible. Please respect the family and do not approach them at this difficult time.
"All at The Lucie Blackman Trust are thinking of the family and continue to support them as they come to terms with this news."
Simon Coveney, Deputy Prime Minister of Ireland and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, has tweeted: "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."
Yesterday, cadaver dogs and shamans joined the hunt for the teen.
The discovery comes a day after Nora's family offered a £10,000 reward for any information leading to her return.
The money had been donated by an anonymous Belfast business.
The jet-lagged Quoirins - including Nora's 12-year-old sister and eight-year-old brother - checked into the Dusun resort near Seremban, about an hour south of Kuala Lumpur, on August 3.
Nora went to bed in an upstairs room and was discovered missing at 8am the following morning, according to her family.
It is believed she was barefoot and wearing her night clothes.
Teams used drones and helicopters with thermal imaging as part of the search and played loudspeaker recordings of her mother's voice.
Known paedophiles were interviewed and police visited the homes of at least 30 local people as part of the hunt.
Speaking yesterday, Nora's family said: “Nora is our first child. She has been vulnerable since the day she was born. She is so precious to us and our hearts are breaking.
"We are appealing to anyone who has information about Nora to help us find her.
"The police have been working extremely hard to bring Nora home.
"In order to help their investigation, we have decided to offer a reward: 50,000R [Malaysian ringgit] has been donated by an anonymous Belfast-based business for any information that directly helps us to find Nora."
Officers from Scotland Yard and the National Crime Agency also joined the search for the Franco-Irish teen.
Nora's family had said they believe the teen, who was born with the brain defect holoprosencephaly, was abducted from their cottage at the resort they were staying at, about an hour south of Kuala Lumpur.
But Malaysian officials have said there was "no proof" she was kidnapped, though they were not ruling out any possibilities.
Police believe she wandered off and got lost in the jungle.
We'll be bringing you the very latest updates, pictures and video on this breaking news story.
