A dead body of a French tourist, who went missing in Nepal last week, has been found, the French government said on Friday.
The foreign ministry of France has confirmed Melanie Guerin's death. The ministry said Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault was in touch with Guerin's family.
"We have been informed by Nepalese authorities that the body of Guerin, who went missing in Nepal on August 13, has been found," the foreign ministry told AFP.
"An investigation is under way in Nepal," the ministry added.
Guerin, a resident of the western city of Nantes, had been in Nepal for a month before she was reported missing.
The police discovered a bag containing her passport, clothes and notebook near a highway last week in Syangja, 150 kilometres west of the capital Kathmandu.
The police announced on Friday that the villagers had found a decomposed body.
The deputy police superintendent for Syangja, Bir Bahadur Pulami, said Guerin's friends identified her by her hair, clothes and jewellery.
Guerin's body was sent for an autopsy to Kathmandu in order to find out the cause of her death.
"Our investigation is ongoing," Pulami said.
Guerin is believed to have last been seen in Lumbini which is the birthplace of the Buddha, near the southern plains of Siddharthanagar.
