The discovery of a burned-out car in Rio state on Thursday with a body inside have sparked fears that it might be that of the Greek ambassador to Brazil, missing since Monday, the telegraph reported. 

Rio police were examining the corpse and scene but could not say whether it was that of the envoy, 59-year-old Kyriakos Amiridis.

"The information that we can confirm right now is that we have found a car in the district of Nova Iguacu with a body and it is being investigated," a source said.

The source would not say whether the license plate of the car was from the rental the ambassador was using, nor when DNA results on the body would be back.

Mr Amiridis had been on vacation with his family in Rio de Janeiro's northern Nova Iguacu area since December 21.

He was due to fly back to Brasilia on January 9, a Greek embassy official said. 

But he went missing on Monday night, after going out of the apartment they were renting and taking the car, according to Brazilian media.

Source MENA