Madeleine McCann: Latest pictures reveal extent of reservoir search

Latest images from the scene show the extent of a fresh search of a reservoir area launched today in Portugal by police investigating the disappearance of Madeleine McCann.

Police divers entered the water early on Tuesday at the Barragem do Arade reservoir, about 30 miles from Praia da Luz, where Madeleine went missing aged three in 2007.

Photographs show specialist officers with sniffer dogs walking around the edges of the reservoir and interrogating scrubland and bushes in the area. Others are seen holding large banks while a rigid-hull inflatable boat was sent into the water with two officers on board.

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Tents have been erected on the banks of the reservoir and officers from Portugal, Germany and the UK were seen holding morning briefings on Tuesday, the BBC reported.

Portuguese police confirmed on Monday that they are co-ordinating searches in the Algarve at the request of German police and in the presence of British officers.

A brief statement from the prosecutor’s office in the German city of Braunschweig confirmed the search but did not reveal why it was taking place.

Braunschweig prosecutor Christian Wolters told reporters that investigators were acting on the basis of “certain tips” but would not give further details.

Four teams of officers from the Portuguese Policia Judiciaria are involved in the operation, along with at least 20 of their German counterparts, Portuguese news outlet SIC said.

Around a dozen officers with sniffer dogs were moving along the bank of the reservoir as part of the search on Tuesday.

Others were seen with rakes and metal rods preparing to search the ground.

It has been reported that the prime suspect in Madeleine’s