Police have launched an urgent search for five-year-old Ashya King, who was taken from Southampton General Hospital by his parents without medical consent on Thursday. The boy, who has a brain tumour, requires constant medical care and is fed through a battery-operated tube that is expected to run out.
Hampshire Police believe the family, including Ashya's parents Brett and Naghemeh King and six siblings, travelled by ferry from Portsmouth to Cherbourg, France. They are thought to be travelling in a grey Hyundai I800 Style CRDI. Assistant Chief Constable Chris Shead said: 'Time is running out for this little boy. We need to find him urgently.'
Ashya is in a wheelchair, cannot communicate verbally, and is immobile. Police are appealing to the family to take him to the nearest hospital. The family are believed to be Jehovah's Witnesses, though police say religious beliefs are irrelevant at this time.
The hospital alerted police six hours after the family left, and authorities are now working with French counterparts. Social media campaigns are under way to locate the family, who are believed to still be in France.
