TAOISEACH Leo Varadkar has offered the parents of Nora Quoirin his "sincere condolences" after the 15-year-old girl's body was found in the Malaysian jungle.
Nora's identify was confirmed earlier today after the body was taken to hospital and Varadkar took to Twitter to extend his consolation.
Varadkar wrote: "Our thoughts & sincere condolences are with Nóra Quoirin’s parents, siblings & wider family at this unimaginably difficult time. They have experienced every family’s worst nightmare. I’d like to pay tribute to everyone who searched for Nora. May she rest in peace."
Our thoughts & sincere condolences are with Nóra Quoirin’s parents, siblings & wider family at this unimaginably difficult time. They have experienced every family’s worst nightmare. I’d like to pay tribute to everyone who searched for Nora. May she rest in peace.
— Leo Varadkar (@LeoVaradkar) August 13, 2019
Nora was born with learning difficulties and an investigation is still underway to determine the cause of her death and disappearance.
She was born with the brain defect holoprosencephaly, and her condition meant she was not independent and had difficulty walking.
The teenager lived in London with her Northern Irish mother and her French father. It is believed that she was travelling with an Irish passport.
Nora went missing on August 4 while on holiday with her family. They were staying in a jungle resort about an hour south of Kuala Lumpur.
Over 350 people took part in the search for the girl, as locals, tourists and authorities scoured the jungle in an attempt to find her.
After being missing for nine days, her body was found near a plantation, around 2kms from the resort where she was last seen. Unconfirmed reports suggest her body was found without clothing.
Nora's body is flown to a nearby hospitalThe area in which her body was found was sealed off with police tape this morning just over a mile from the Dusun eco-resort.
A post-mortem examination will be carried out tomorrow.
