A man wanted for questioning in connection with the disappearance of two young girls in eastern Belgium has turned himself in to the police. Abdellah Ait Oud recognised pictures of himself when they were broadcast on television. He had been untraceable since ten year old Nathalie Mahy and seven year old Stacy Lemmens vanished on Friday night. Oud is currently being treated as a main witness in the case.

He is the boyfriend of one of the waitresses working at the bar near where the girls were last seen and he is known to have been drinking there until 1.30 in the morning – around the time the girls’ disappearance was noticed. Extensive police searches have so far failed to find any trace of Nathalie and Stacy. However, their disappearance has re-awakened the fears of ten years ago, when Belgium was shaken to the core following revelations of institutionalised paedophilia led by Marc Dutroux.

Copyright © 2012 euronews