Madeleine McCann searches concluded as planned, prosecutors say
The latest searches in connection with the disappearance of Madeleine McCann concluded as planned, German prosecutors have said.
Head prosecutor in Braunschweig, Hans Christian Wolters, said the co-operation between the Portuguese and German authorities during the operation was 'very constructive'.
His words came after The Sun newspaper reported that samples had been taken from last week's searches after claims that bones and clothing fibres were found.
The newspaper reported that the bones were initially deemed to be animal remains but have been retained by prosecutors to be forensically examined.
The latest hunt for evidence came 18 years after three-year-old Madeleine disappeared from the Portuguese resort of Praia da Luz while on holiday with her family in 2007.
She was left sleeping by her parents, Kate and Gerry McCann, and vanished as they went for dinner in a nearby restaurant.
Search teams concluded their operation in neighbouring Atalaia, near the city of Lagos, after three days of scouring scrubland and abandoned structures.
German prosecutors requested the search as part of their continued attempts to source evidence to implicate prime suspect Christian Brueckner.
He is in prison for raping a 72-year-old woman in Praia da Luz in 2005 and is due to be released from jail in September if no further charges are brought.
According to reports, Brueckner sent a letter to police saying 'decisive questions can never be answered'.
Another letter shows the suspect telling Mr Wolters that 'the investigation will be dropped', The Sun reported.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Guardian
an hour ago
- The Guardian
Graz gunman was first-person shooter games obsessive, police say
A gunman who killed 10 people at his former school in the Austrian city of Graz was an 'obsessive online first-person shooter', according to police, who gave detailed information for the first time about how he had planned the attack. The 21-year-old Austrian, who shot dead 10 people and then himself on Tuesday morning after going on a rampage at the school close to the city centre, had spent much of his free time playing what were described by police as 'ego shooting' online video games, in which participants typically use virtual firearms to kill enemies. Police said they believed the online community of players formed his main social contacts and that he was otherwise a loner who kept to himself. It emerged that among the people killed by the man, identified by the Austrian and German media as Arthur A, was one of his former teachers. Police said it was unknown if he had deliberately targeted her. The 59-year-old teacher was killed along with nine pupils – six female and three male – aged between 14 and 17. Nine people are still being treated in hospital for their injuries, including a male teacher, but all were stable and the last two in intensive care were to be moved out during the course of the day, health officials said. It also emerged on Thursday in a report by the state broadcaster ORF, which was confirmed by a spokesperson for the country's military, that the killer had recently failed a psychological test to enter the armed forces. However, he had even more recently passed the psychological checks required to be in possession of the weapons he used to carry out the killings, which he carried legally, police said. The man, who had attended the school and dropped out three years ago, was an apprentice at an industrial school. He lived alone with his mother and was not previously known to police. The shooting rampage, the worst in the country's history, has sparked an emotional debate over the state of the country's gun laws, which critics have said are too lax. During a visit to Graz on Wednesday evening, Belgium's president, Alexander Van der Bellen, said it was necessary for politicians to review the laws and to 'look into how it is possible for a 21-year-old to own handguns and long weapons and have the opportunity to purchase the appropriate ammunition for them and to cause this mayhem'. The country's national security council, set up in light of the 9/11 attacks in the US, was due to address the issue when it met on Thursday afternoon. Discussions have also begun about tightening security in schools across the country, with some calling for the installation of metal detectors at school gates. Michael Lohnegger, the head of the Styrian state criminal police office, said the man planned the attack in minute detail. He described how the man entered the main entrance of the BORG Dreierschützengasse school at 9.43am on Tuesday carrying a backpack containing his weapons and ammunition. Between 350 and 400 pupils were present on site at the time. 'He went into a toilet on the third floor and took various objects out of his rucksack. He put on a weapons belt with a hunting knife, a pair of shooting glasses and a headset, took out a Glock 19 pistol, a sawn-off Mercury shotgun, and loaded the weapons. 'At 9.47 he proceeded to carry out a seven-minute rampage through the school, going from the third to the second floor, and opened fire randomly on people in the school, who were from the 5th class. 'He finally went to the third floor where pupils of the 7th class were … fired at the closed doors of the classrooms until he was able to open them and then randomly shot at the people he found there.' He finally returned to the toilet cubicle on the third floor where he subsequently shot himself in the head at 10.07am, Lohnegger said. Owing to the fact that the first team of armed police entered the school building at 10.06am and heard no shots, investigators are working on the assumption that Arthur A might well have planned to carry out more killings, as he had plenty more ammunition on his person, but his knowledge that police were in the building may have prompted him to stop. There was no evidence that the killer knew the pupils he shot, Lohnegger added, but it had been established he had been taught by the teacher who was killed. There was no evidence that this was a motive behind the killing, he said. Lohnegger said Arthur A had worked out a 'very detailed plan of action. He had informed himself extremely precisely and given a lot of thought as to when he would approach each floor.' There was no information as to when he abandoned plans to deploy a homemade pipe bomb, found at his home, after it proved to be dysfunctional, although Lohnegger said it 'in theory contained all the components necessary' to work. Arthur A bought the shotgun in mid-April and the handgun several weeks later. He had been attending shooting practice at a range in Graz since March, Lohnegger said. He said people at the school had reacted 'very well' to the incident, after recent training in what to do in case of a shooting, by shutting doors and barricading themselves into classrooms. Police said they had yet to rule out that the killer may have had an accomplice who helped him in his planning or in his execution of the attack. Lohnegger described Arthur A as someone who lived a 'very reserved' life and 'was not very willing to participate in real life'. A search of the flat where he lived with his mother in a suburb south of Graz had uncovered a suicide note 'directed as an apology towards his family'. The first details of some of the victims began emerging on Wednesday evening. A 15-year-old Bosnian-Austrian girl called Hana was one of the first to be killed, her family said. She had been preparing to give a lecture to her class. Speaking on behalf of her Bosnian Muslim family, Sabahudin Hasić, a local imam, said they were 'utterly destroyed, as is our whole community. This deed is completely unimaginable.' Hana had wanted to study medicine, he said, describing her as a 'sunshine'. In a post on social media, her father wrote: 'My little mouse, may God give you paradise'. Standing next to her in class had been Lea B, who was also killed. The 15-year-old's family had come to Austria from Kosovo, and she was born in Austria. Sokol Haliti, the mayor of the family's home town in Viti, Kosovo, told Austrian media that the community, where her father was born and where her grandparents still live, was in mourning. 'It is a terrible tragedy. Not only for Austria. Lea was also one of us,' he said.
Metro
an hour ago
- Metro
The deadliest plane crashes in UK aviation history
An Air India plane carrying 242 people bound for London has crashed near Ahmedabad airport shortly after taking off. On board the Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner were 53 British, 169 Indian, seven Portuguese and one Canadian nationals. Fire and thick black smoke was seen shortly after the aricraft went down near student accommodation at a nearby medical university at 1.39pm local time. Follow Metro's blog for live coverage and updates from the Air India crash Crashes like this are rare – but when they happen, the consequences are catastrophic. Below, we look back at some of the worst air disasters in UK aviation history. Pan Am Flight 103 exploded over Dumfries and Galloway while cruising at 31,000 feet on December 21, 1988, crashing onto the town of Lockerbie. All 259 people on board and 11 people on the ground were killed when the Boeing 747, flying from Heathrow to New York, was bombed. The explosion tore a 20-inch hole in the fuselage, causing the aircraft to disintegrate instantly. Among the vitims were 35 American students flying home for Christmas and the crash remains the deadliest terrorist attack on UK soil. A joint investigation by Scottish police and the FBI concluded the bombing was carried out by Libyan Intelligence Services in revenge for the 1986 US bombing of Tripoli. Abdelbaset al-Megrahi was later convicted for placing the bomb in a suitcase disguised with clothing and an umbrella. A British European Airways Trident crashed shortly after takeoff from Heathrow en route to Brussels on June 18, 1972, killing all 118 people on board. Three minutes into the flight, the plane entered a deep stall. Investigators found that the crew had failed to maintain sufficient speed and did not properly deploy the aircraft's high-lift devices. The cockpit voice recorder captured an argument between the captain and co-pilot moments before the crash. Weather conditions were also poor, with turbulence, strong crosswinds, heavy rain and low cloud. A Canadair C-4 Argonaut operated by British Midland Airways crashed near the centre of Stockport on June 4, 1967, killing 72 of the 84 people on board. The aircraft was returning from Palma de Mallorca and came down just a few miles short of its destination, Manchester Airport. Two of its four engines failed due to fuel starvation caused by a design flaw in the fuel system. Investigators also cited pilot fatigue as a contributing factor, noting that the flight crew were likely operating under significant exhaustion at the time of the crash. On August 22, 1985, a British Airtours Boeing 737-236 bound for Corfu aborted takeoff at Manchester Airport after control staff warned one of its engines was on fire. Passengers started evacuating, but the fire spread rapidly. All deaths were caused by the inhalation of toxic smoke. Most of their bodies were found near the overwing exit. Fifty-five of the 137 people on board were killed. The disaster led to sweeping aviation reforms, including fire-resistant seat materials, improved cabin wall and ceiling panels, floor lighting for evacuation, better on-board extinguishers, and revised emergency procedures. On January 5, 1969, an Ariana Afghan Airlines flight from Kabul crashed into a house during its final approach to Gatwick Airport, killing 50 people – 48 on board and two on the ground The aircraft descended too quickly after a flap adjustment caused the nose to pitch downward. By the time the flight crew recognised the error, it was too late to recover. The plane struck the home of William and Ann Jones, who died in the crash – but their baby miraculously survived. Fourteen people on the flight, including the captain, first officer and flight engineer, also lived. On January 8, 1989, British Midland Flight 92 from Belfast to Heathrow crashed short of the runway at East Midlands Airport during an attempted emergency landing, killing 47 of the 126 people on board. The Boeing 737 had been cruising at 35,000 feet when a fan blade on the left engine fractured due to metal fatigue. The crew mistakenly shut down the working engine, and moments before impact a final announcement instructed passengers to 'prepare for crash landing.' The plane struck the ground, bounced over the M1, and tore through trees and a lamppost. Investigators found that the aircraft's new engines had been tested only in labs, not under real-flight conditions. Both pilots were seriously injured and later dismissed by the airline amid criticism of cockpit decision-making. An Iberia Airlines flight from Malaga to Heathrow flew into the southern slope of Blackdown Hill in West Sussex on November 4, 1967. More Trending The plane was on approach to Heathrow when it clipped trees before skidding across a field and killing 88 grazing sheep. Investigators could not find out why the plane did not stick to its assigned flight level and audio recordings showed no evidence of any failure in the aircraft. A theory remains that the flight crew misread their altitude meter, which warns pilots when the altitude falls below 10,000 feet. Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@ For more stories like this, check our news page. MORE: British man who was sat at front of plane believed to be the only survivor of Air India crash MORE: Boeing plane safety: Should you be worried about flying on its aircraft? MORE: Everything we know about the Ahmedabad to London Air India AI171 plane crash
North Wales Chronicle
2 hours ago
- North Wales Chronicle
Three killed in Ukraine as Russia continues drones offensive
According to the Ukrainian air force, Russia launched a barrage of 63 drones and decoys at Ukraine overnight. It said that air defences destroyed 28 drones while another 21 were jammed. Ukraine's police said two people were killed and six were injured over the past 24 hours in the eastern Donetsk region, the focus of the Russian offensive. One person was killed and 14 others were also injured in the southern Kherson region, which is partly occupied by Russian forces, police said. The head of the Kharkiv region, Oleh Syniehubov, said 15 people, including four children, were injured by Russian drone attacks overnight. Kharkiv city mayor Ihor Terekhov said Russian drones targeted residential districts, educational facilities, nurseries and other civilian infrastructure. 'Kharkiv is holding on. People are alive. And that is the most important thing,' Mr Terekhov said. The Russian military has launched waves of drones and missiles in recent days, with a record bombardment of almost 500 drones on Monday and a wave of 315 drones and seven missiles overnight on Tuesday. The recent escalation in aerial attacks has come alongside a renewed Russian battlefield push along eastern and north-eastern parts of the 600-mile front line. While Russian missile and drone barrage have struck regions all across Ukraine, regions along the front line have faced daily Russian attacks with short-range exploding drones and glide bombs. Ukraine hit back with drone raids, with Russia's defence ministry saying air defences downed 52 Ukrainian drones early on Thursday, including 41 over the Belgorod region that borders Ukraine. Regional governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said three people were injured by Ukrainian attacks. The attacks have continued despite discussions of a potential ceasefire in the war. During their June 2 talks in Istanbul, Russian and Ukrainian negotiators traded memorandums containing sharply divergent conditions that both sides see as non-starters, making any quick deal unlikely. Speaking at a meeting of leaders of south-east European countries in Odesa, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky urged the European Union to toughen its latest package of sanctions against Russia. He argued that lowering the cap on the price of Russian oil from 60 US dollars (£44) to 45 dollars (£33) as the bloc has proposed is not enough. German defence minister Boris Pistorius arrived in Kyiv on Thursday on an unannounced visit, noting that the stepped-up Russian attacks on Ukraine send a message from Moscow that it has 'no interest in a peaceful solution at present', according to German news agency dpa. Pistorius said his visit underlines that the new German government continues to stand by Ukraine. 'Of course this will also be about how the support of Germany and other Europeans will look in future – what we can do, for example, in the area of industrial co-operation, but also other support,' he said.
