Watch: Heartbreaking footage shows Madeleine McCann boarding doomed Portugal-bound plane
Long-forgotten video footage of Madeleine McCann boarding the plane that took her to Portugal has been released as part of a new TV series.
The video shows the little girl struggling to make her way up the steps to the plane at East Midlands Airport five days before she disappeared.
A clip of her on board an airport bus in the Algarve has also been unearthed.
The footage was first shared by Madeleine’s parents, Kate and Gerry McCann, in the weeks after the three-year-old vanished in May 2007.
It has now re-emerged as part of a new eight-part Netflix documentary into Madeleine’s disappearance, which has been made without the approval of the McCanns, now 51.
Kate and Gerry McCann have previously criticised the programme, saying it “could potentially hinder” the search for Madeleine, who vanished from the resort of Praia da Luz while on holiday with her family.
The Disappearance of Madeleine McCann will be released from today, the streaming service has confirmed, saying it will be a “detailed look” at the disappearance of the three-year-old.
Netflix said the series had access to “never-before-heard testimonies from those at the heart of the story, including friends of the McCann family, investigators working the case and from those who became the subject of media speculation and rumour”.
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Kate and Gerry McCann previously said in a statement: “The production company told us that they were making the documentary and asked us to participate.
“We did not see – and still do not see – how this programme will help the search for Madeleine and, particularly given there is an active police investigation, it could potentially hinder it.
“Consequently, our views and preferences are not reflected in the programme.”
Scotland Yard launched an investigation, Operation Grange, after a Portuguese inquiry failed to make any headway on Madeleine’s disappearance.
In November last year, a further £150,000 was granted to the investigation to allow it to continue until March 31.
Force bosses have been applying for funding from the Home Office every six months to continue the inquiry, which has cost about £11.75 million so far.
