BREAKING: Body is found in hunt for missing British teenager Nora Quoirin in Malaysian jungle, police chief reveals.

A postmortem examination will be carried out to determine the cause of death of Nora Quoirin, 15, whose body has been found in the Malaysian jungle.

The London girl’s body was discovered on Tuesday by a local team of hikers just over a mile from the resort where she had been on holiday with her family. The find brought to an end a 10-day search which had involved more than 350 volunteers and drawn offers of support from around the world.

“The family confirmed that the body found is indeed missing Nora Anne,” the police chief for Negeri Sembilan state, Datuk Mohamad Mat Yusof, said. “Both parents, the mother and father, both confirmed it.”

He said the postmortem would be carried out at 10am on Wednesday and that the police would then determine whether any further investigations were needed. Officers leading the investigation have not ruled out a “criminal element” in the teenager’s disappearance.

Malaysia’s deputy inspector general of police, Datuk Mazlan Mansor, had earlier told reporters there was “reasonable suspicion” that the body of the “Caucasian female” found 1.2 miles from the Dusan resort was that of Nora, who is of Irish and French descent.

An official told reporters at an earlier press conference that a body had been found which “resembles Nora”. He said: “The body was winched by helicopter to the hospital.”

The body was uncovered near a stream at around 2pm by members of the Seremban hikers club, who had joined police, residents and members of the indigenous Orang Asli people in the search and rescue operation. The area in the Betembum mountains where the discovery was made, and which was described by the police chief as “not an accessible place”, had been scoured by rescue team days earlier.

A statement from the Lucie Blackman Trust, which is representing the family, said: “The Lucie Blackman Trust can confirm with great sadness that the body found today is that of missing teenager Nora Quoirin. Local police have confirmed identification.

“The charity will update as soon as possible. Please respect the family and do not approach them at this difficult time. All at the Lucie Blackman Trust are thinking of the family and continue to support them as they come to terms with this news.”