'Please don't stop the search': Emiliano Sala's sister pleads

Romina Sala, the sister of missing Cardiff City soccer player Emiliano Sala, made an emotional plea for the authorities on Thursday to continue the search for the plane which disappeared over the English Channel three days ago.

Rescuers ended their search on Thursday for the plane carrying the Premier League soccer player after saying there was little chance anyone aboard had survived.

Sala, Cardiff City's new signing, and the plane's pilot, David Ibbotson, have been missing since Monday night. Rescuers have scoured about 1,700 square miles but have found no trace of the aircraft or those on board.

Speaking at a news conference in Cardiff on Thursday, a tearful Romina urged the authoritites to keep searching for her brother and the pilot.

"The message that I would like to give is to not stop the search," she pleaded.

"It is very difficult at the moment. I feel very confused. The only thing I want is for my brother to be found, for the pilot to be found," she said. "I feel that they are alive and that they are OK and that they are waiting for us," she added.

She said that she last spoke to her brother on Monday and that he was very happy and very excited.

The 28-year-old Argentina-born forward was en route from Nantes in western France to make his debut for Welsh team Cardiff City.