When a relative or friend goes missing abroad it can be very distressing and you may feel at a loss as to what to do about it.

If you are in the UK and worried about a British national who you think is missing abroad, we can let you know how to produce a missing person's report for your local police so Interpol enquiries can begin.

Contact the FCO

Contact the FCO in London on 020 7008 1500 or if you are abroad yourself then contact us here.

Although we cannot carry out physical searches on your behalf, we can give you information about appropriate local authorities. We can also give you contact details for any relevant local charitable and voluntary organisations specialising in tracing missing people.

Detective agencies

Where appropriate, we can give you information about the federation or association of any local private detective agencies.

If you want, Consular staff in London can meet family representatives, maintain contact with you and tell you about any new developments.

Foreign nationals are required to provide passports as evidence of identity at any hotel in Egypt and local authorities are usually able to track movements. Any cases should be reported to the Egyptian police as soon as possible, a police case number obtained and detailed information passed to the British Embassy or British Consulate to pursue through their official contacts.