Channel search called off

A search has been called off for a pair of missing passengers who disappeared on a cross-Channel ferry, the Coastguard said today.

It also emerged that the two, previously believed to be women, were a man and a woman.

A massive sea-air search was launched at around 3am today after the pair failed to board their Eurobusexpress coach when it arrived in Calais.

The search involved the Coastguard, the RNLI, and the French Navy.

Maritime and Coastguard Agency spokesman Fred Caygill said: "In a joint decision between the British and French maritime authorities the search for the missing women from the P&O cross-Channel ferry Pride of Kent has now been called off.

"Ongoing investigations on both sides of the channel by the police are continuing."

A Kent Police spokeswoman said: "We can confirm that from information we have received we now believe it's a man and woman."

The pair are not believed to be British, said Eurobusexpress managing director Gerard Hagen.

He described the woman as a blonde, and the man as Mediterranean looking.

The pair bought their one-way tickets from London to Brussels shortly before they boarded the coach which departed Victoria Coach Station at 9pm yesterday.

There were eight passengers on board the coach which was bound for Brussels and Amsterdam.

Mr Hagen said: "We had eight passengers on board. By the time the driver arrived in Calais there were only six passengers. Two passengers didn't show up.

"Our courier and driver both reported this to P&O staff who carried out a search of the boat and didn't find anybody.

"They only had hand luggage, which is not unusual. No luggage was left on the coach."

The couple's names have been handed to police. Mr Hagen said they could have been false and were being verified.

He said no suicide note had been found on the coach, which has arrived in Amsterdam.

Other possibilities included the pair boarding the wrong coach or hitching a lift with a lorry driver, he said.

"There's so many possibilities," he said. "These people are missing and we don't know where they are. They could be in the Channel or anywhere on the continent. They're most probably in Belgium, it's strange.

"We've been doing this for 15 years and it's the first time anything has happened like this. It's new to us."