Rescue crews scoured densely forested mountains in southern Brazil today for signs of a Roman Catholic priest who vanished over the Atlantic Ocean with a cluster of helium balloons.

Hope was fading today for a priest who vanished attempting to fly hundreds of miles supported by party balloons.

RESCUERS have discovered a cluster of brightly coloured party balloons floating in the ocean off Brazil’s coastline, but did not find the Catholic priest who had been using them.

Rescuers have reached a cluster of brightly coloured party balloons floating in the ocean off Brazil’s coast, but did not find the Roman Catholic priest who had been using them in a bid to set a flight record.