Police in Italy hunting for missing Dutch youth Koen van Keulen say they have found a body near the campsite where he is staying.

The body is now confirmed to be that of the 17-year-old, who vanished on Thursday night, police told broadcaster NOS.

The body was found in a ditch on the other side of the crash barrier which runs along the road, NOS said. According to one theory, the youth may have jumped over the crash barrier and have fallen into the ditch after starting his walk back to the campsite.

Around 200 people joined in the search for the teenager who went missing on holiday at Lake Garda. He had not been seen since boarding a bus in the early hours of Friday near the campsite at the Italian resort where he was staying with family and friends.

He was coming back from a festival with his brother and a group of friends, but was not with them when they got out at Pacengo Eurocamping at about 2am.

The bus driver is reported to have said he saw a youth in a blue T-shirt get out at the following stop, about 3km down the road. Italian police said on Monday they had traced a girl who was thought to have been with Koen, but it was a case of mistaken identity.