Blood found on boat during search in Brazil for missing British journalist Dom Phillips
Police are examining blood found in the search for a British journalist and a Brazilian indigenous expert who vanished in one of the remotest corners of the Amazon just days after receiving threats.
Dom Phillips, a freelance journalist and veteran foreign correspondent, was last seen on Sunday, travelling deep into the Javari region of Amazonas state with Bruno Araujo Pereira, a former official with federal indigenous agency Funai.
Police in the town of town of Atalaia do Norte have questioned several fishermen as witnesses and arrested one of them, a local fisherman called Amarildo Da Costa.
Traces of blood found on a boat belonging to Da Costa, who police say was one of the last people to see the two men, will be investigated to see whether it is human or not.
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Da Costa, known locally as "Pelado", has been charged with illegal possession of restricted ammunition.
On Thursday, federal police said a forensic officer and state police were checking for "possible genetic material" on the boat.
Da Costa's lawyer, Davi Oliveira, said his client was not involved in the disappearance of the two men and was only engaged in legal fishing.
Six other people have been questioned in connection with the men's disappearance, according to reports.
The pair - who were travelling in a new boat with 70 litres of gasoline - had been due to reach Atalaia do Norte, the main entry point to the Javari region, on Sunday morning, but never made it to their destination.
The area where they disappeared is home to thousands of indigenous people, and has seen clashes with fishermen catching protected stock, along with incursions by drug-traffickers and loggers.
Mr Phillips, 57, who is a regular contributor to The Guardian, was said to have received a number of threats from loggers and miners in the region, which is notorious for illegal mining.
Hundreds of security forces have been participating in the search, with divers scouring the jungle terrain as boats and drones look for the missing men.
Politicians and celebrities are among those who have urged Brazil's president Jair Bolsonaro and his government to step up efforts to find Mr Pereira and Mr Phillips, who vanished while reporting for a book about conservation.
Football star Pelé joined Mr Phillip's wife, sister, scientists, artists and journalists in posting messages on social media, calling for authorities to bolster their search. He wrote: "The fight for the preservation of the Amazon Forest and of the indigenous groups belongs to all of us.
"I am moved by the disappearance of Dom Phillips and Bruno Ferreira, who dedicate their lives to this cause. I join the many voices that make the appeal to intensify the search."