Search for three missing children continues

A member of the helicopter rescue team inspects the locations the missing children might pass by. [Photo by Shen Zhicheng/chinadaily.com.cn]

Three children who went missing on Tuesday morning from a village in Jinhua city, Zhejiang province, haven't been found by 2:30 pm Thursday after an inch-by-inch search by rescue teams.

Chen Xinyi, 12, and her 7-year-old brother Chen Hanlin, together with Chen Minjie, an 8-year-old girl, were last seen at around 11 am on Tuesday in Jianguang village, Pujiang county. The father of the brother and sister said they hadn't returned home by 4:30 pm and he began looking for them and called the police.

By 5 pm on Wednesday, 59 rescue teams from the county's police department were searching for the trio in a reservoir, a stream and in the mountains. Two police helicopters also took part, according to the county's information office.

Provincial rescue efforts, including diving teams, consisted of 100 people and had joined the search by Thursday.

"The edges of the cliffs and the ditches will be key target areas for the search, and tourists and the more than 700 vehicles that passed through the village on Tuesday afternoon will be investigated," police said.