London, Thanasis Gavos

Ongoing is since the morning a search operation of the Portuguese police in an artificial lake in the Arante dam, which is located 31 kilometers away from the place from which the almost four-year-old girl disappeared 16 years ago Madeline McCann.

Divers are operating in the area, although the surrounding area will also be searched at the request of the German authorities.

The first large-scale search in nine years for the possible location of the young British woman’s body is being carried out as part of German investigations into the role of prisoner in another case Christian Brickner.

He is the main suspect in the kidnapping and – according to the German authorities – the possible death of Madeleine McCann, but no charges have been filed against him. Investigations nevertheless place him on the night of the disappearance in Praia da Luz, the Portuguese resort where the little girl was sleeping while her parents were in a restaurant 100 meters away.

Brickner frequented in the area of ​​the dams, even calling the location “paradise”.

The man known as Christian B. is being held for the rape of a 72-year-old woman in the same area of ​​Portugal. He has previously been accused of child abuse and drug trafficking, but denies involvement in securing little Madeleine.

Investigations were carried out in the dam lake in 2008 as well, following information received by a Portuguese lawyer from contacts in the underworld of the area that the girl’s body would be found there. The searches had yielded no results, with the visibility on the seabed extremely limited.

Today’s investigations are closely monitored by an echelon of the British police.