Fresh searches for Madeleine began on Tuesday, as teams drained a well and cleared areas of dense vegetation near abandoned buildings in countryside a few kilometres from the southern Portuguese resort town of Praia da Luz.
Three-year-old Madeleine vanished while on holiday with her family in the Algarve resort on May 3, 2007, after her parents went out to dinner and left her sleeping in a room with her toddler twin siblings.
German investigators and Portuguese police officers and firefighters took part in the searches on Tuesday, as teams used strimmers, shovels and chainsaws to clear the undergrowth and debris around an abandoned building, and drained a well using a yellow hose.
About a dozen officers focused on one abandoned building where digging was taking place, while another member of the search team cleared large rocks.
The Sun reported that investigators are also planning to use radar equipment to scan beneath the ground.
It has been reported that teams will look where trenches were dug near the resort at the time of Madeleine's disappearance, at wells, ruins and water tanks, and that there are plans to examine 21 pieces of land.
The search is being carried out at the request of the German federal police, as they look for evidence that could implicate prime suspect Christian Brueckner, who is in prison for raping a 72-year-old woman in Praia da Luz in 2005.
He is due to be released from jail in September if no further charges are brought.
In October Brueckner was cleared by a German court of unrelated sexual offences, alleged to have taken place in Portugal between 2000 and 2017.
About 30 German police, including forensic experts, are expected to take part in the search, with Portuguese officers, which is expected to last until Friday.
The Metropolitan Police said British officers are not part of the search team.
German investigators and Portuguese officers last carried out searches in 2023, near the Barragem do Arade reservoir, about 50km from Praia da Luz.
Brueckner, who spent time in the area between 2000 and 2017, had photographs and videos of himself near the reservoir.
It was previously searched in 2008, when Portuguese lawyer Marcos Aragao Correia paid for specialist divers to search it, after he claimed to have been tipped off by criminal contacts that Madeleine's body was there.
British police were later given permission to examine scrubland near where she vanished in 2014.
Last month Madeleine's parents, Kate and Gerry McCann marked the 18th anniversary of her disappearance, describing her as "beautiful and unique", before her 22nd birthday, and vowed to continue the search.
"The years appear to be passing even more quickly and whilst we have no significant news to share, our determination to 'leave no stone unturned' is unwavering. We will do our utmost to achieve this," they said in a statement.
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