A British journalist has disappeared in one of the remotest corners of the Amazon just days after his guide received threats, according to reports.
Dom Phillips, a contributor to The Guardian in Brazil, went missing with a local expert.
The pair were last seen over the weekend in the Javari region of Amazonas state – near the border with Peru.
According to The Guardian, the reporter was travelling with Bruno Araujo Pereira – a former government official whose job was to protect Brazil’s uncontacted tribes.
The newspaper said Mr Pereira had received a number of threats from loggers and miners in the region.
On Monday, local Indigenous leaders sounded the alarm after the pair vanished during a reporting mission into the network of rivers around the town of Atalaia do Norte, the entry point into the Javari reserve.
The Indigenous group Univaja said the men had set off last week by boat for a region known as the Lago do Jaburu.
They arrived on Friday, and according to reports began their return trip to Atalaia do Norte on Sunday morning.
The river trip should not have taken more than a few hours – and a search party was sent out at about 2pm after they failed to arrive.
Local police and the army are believed to be involved in the search.
A spokesperson for Guardian News & Media said: “The Guardian is very concerned and is urgently seeking information about Mr Phillips’ whereabouts and condition.
“We are in contact with the British embassy in Brazil and local and national authorities to try to establish the facts as soon as possible.”
Mr Phillips has reported on Brazil for more than 15 years for newspapers including The Guardian, the Washington Post, the New York Times and the Financial Times.
