A child's body was found in a barrel in the search for a missing 9-year-old girl, Australian police say

• Australian police said they found a child's body in a barrel while searching for a missing nine-year-old.
• The girl was reported missing on Friday, and police said they found a body on Tuesday.

Police in Australia said they found a child's body in a barrel during the search for a missing nine-year-old girl.

A girl was reported missing in Mount Wilson, near Sydney, on Friday, and a body was found close to a nearby river on Tuesday, New South Wales Police said in a statement.

The police said that "the body of a child was located in a barrel."

"The body is yet to be formally identified," police added. The missing girl cannot be publicly named due to Australian law.

A 31-year-old man was arrested and charged with murder, and is scheduled to appear in court on Wednesday, the police said. The man was not named.

David Hudson, the deputy commissioner for New South Wales Police, told reporters that the remains found were "consistent with the missing girl," but that "until the post-mortem is conducted, we are still uncertain of what exactly happened to her," Reuters reported.

The scene where the body was found is still being examined, NSW Police said.