£100,000 donated to help family of missing teen Nora Quoirin

Q Radio news

More than £100,000 has been donated to help the family of missing teenager Nora Quoirin as the search for the 15-year-old continues.

More than 300 search and rescue personnel have been involved in the hunt for Nora, who disappeared from a Malaysian jungle resort on Sunday August 4.

The teenager's aunt set up an online fundraising page in the aftermath of her disappearance, which has so far collected more than £89,000.

A second campaign created by Nora's uncle to collect money in euros now totals more than 14,000 euros (£13,000).

On Monday morning, a total of 348 personnel were deployed in the search operation, the largest team so far, according to Malaysia's Malay Mail newspaper.

Malaysian police set up a new hotline over the weekend, while voluntary hikers also joined the search for Nora, who was born with the brain defect holoprosencephaly and has special needs.

Her parents, Meabh and Sebastien Quoirin, a French-Irish couple who have lived in London for 20 years, thanked those involved in looking for her.

"You have given up your time especially at a special festival time," said Ms Quoirin, referring to Hari Raya Haji, the Islamic "festival of sacrifice" celebrations.

In a video broadcast on local media, she added: "We want to say thank you to each and every one of you. We know you're searching night and day for Nora.

"We see you working so hard and also praying with us and being with us."

Meabh is originally from Belfast and Nora is travelling on an Irish passport. 

The family have said they remain hopeful after police leading the investigation refused to rule out a "criminal element".

The National Crime Agency (NCA) and the Metropolitan Police are supporting the Malaysian police with the case.

A spokeswoman for the NCA said: "The National Crime Agency, the Met Police and the Irish police are working together to help and support the Malaysian authorities relating to Nora Quoirin's disappearance."

Anyone with information is asked to contact the Lucie Blackman Trust intelligence on ops@lbtrust.org or +44 800 098 8485.