German police officers are searching a garden allotment in Hanover in connection with the disappearance of British girl Madeleine McCann 13 years ago, prosecutors said Tuesday.

"I can confirm that the search is being carried out in connection with our investigations into the Maddie McCann case," Brunswick prosecutor Julia Meyer said.

Meyer did not provide further details of the operation but said police would "still need more time to finish."

Three-year-old Madeleine McCann vanished in 2007 from her family's holiday apartment in Portugal's Algarve region. Despite an international manhunt, no trace of her has been found and the case remains unsolved.

New suspect

In June, German authorities announced they had launched a murder investigation after identifying a German citizen as a suspect in the case. He has not been named officially, but German media have identified him as Christian B. The 43-year-old is currently in prison in Kiel, northern Germany, and has two previous convictions for "sexual contact with girls," authorities have said.

Read more: Madeleine McCann: Prosecutors probe link between suspect and missing German girl

He is said to have spent many years in Portugal, including in Praia da Luz where Madeleine McCann's family was holidaying at the time of her disappearance. He allegedly made a living doing odd jobs in the Algarve area between 1995 and 2007, and also burgled hotel rooms and flats.

The suspect's last known address was in the German city of Braunschweig, about 70 kilometers (40 miles) from Hanover.

nm/rc (AP, AFP, dpa)