Police in Malaysia have widened their search for a teenage girl who went missing from a holiday resort over the weekend, adding that they had found no evidence she was abducted.
Nóra Quoirin, 15, was reported missing from her room on Sunday, a day after her family arrived at the hill resort near the town of Seremban, about 70km south of the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur.
In a statement this morning, her family said they believed she had been abducted.
They said Nóra has learning and developmental disabilities and is not like other 15-year-olds.
"She looks younger, she is not capable of taking care of herself and she won't understand what is going on," they said.
They added that Nóra never goes anywhere by herself and they have "no reason to believe she wandered off and is lost".
However, police said her disappearance was being handled as a case of a missing person and they had found no sign she was abducted.
More than 178 people, a helicopter and canine units are searching for Nóra, who holds an Irish passport.
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A police spokesman said she could not have gone far from the resort, an orchard retreat close to a forest reserve.
The search will follow riverbeds downhill from the resort, as police believe she may seek out water sources, he added.
Those searching dense jungle and hilly terrain on foot and by helicopter include police, the fire and rescue services department, civil defence and the forestry department, local media reported.
Sniffer dogs are also being used in the search for Nóra, who is the daughter of an Irish-French couple who have lived in London for about 20 years.
Her mother Meabh is originally from Belfast.
Additional Reporting PA
