A VIGIL was held outside the Brazilian embassy in London this morning for missing British journalist Dom Phillips and indigenous expert Bruno Araujo Pereira.

The family of Mr Phillips, who vanished from the Amazon rainforest last weekend, attended the event to hand a letter to the Brazilian ambassador urging the state’s authorities to speed up the search for the pair. 

Mr Phillips, a veteran journalist who has lived in Brazil for over a decade, disappeared along with Mr Pereira while researching a book on rainforest development on the Itaquai River in the far west of the country.

Two indigenous groups said the two men had received threats two days prior to their disappearance on Sunday morning. 

Supporters held red roses and enlarged portraits of Mr Phillips and Mr Pereira as they stood in silence outside the Brazilian embassy at 8am this morning. 

The vigil was called by Greenpeace following accusations that the Brazilian authorities were not doing enough to look for the two men. 

Outside the embassy, Mr Phillips’s sister Sian said the family still had hope that the two would be found. 

“We are here because Dom is missing, he is lost doing the important job of investigative journalism,” she said.

“We want the search to carry on.”

Louisa Casson, head of forests at Greenpeace UK, said the meaning of the roses was to “convey the love and admiration everyone here has for Dom and Bruno and for their work.”

It comes as editors from more than 20 major media and press freedom organisations across the world signed an open letter to Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro to ask he “urgently step up and fully resource the effort” for the missing pair.