Police in South Africa are searching for answers after the bodies of three police officers - who had been missing for six days - were found in a river.

Boipelo Senoge, aged 20, Cebekhulu Linda, 24, and 30-year-old Keamogetswe Buys were last seen leaving a petrol station near Johannesburg last Wednesday.

Their bodies were discovered by divers around 70km (43 miles) away in Hennops river, along with the remains of two other unnamed persons.

The police initially said they were investigating a case of "possible hijacking and kidnapping" but on Tuesday said they could not speculate whether or not the deaths were accidental.

The three police officers - all constables - were travelling in a white VW Polo when they went missing, a police statement said.

Their vehicle tracking device and mobile phones have been off since then.

A search team subsequently "spent sleepless nights combing the length and breadth" of the Gauteng, Free State and Limpopo provinces, eventually finding parts of a vehicle "believed to be" a VW Polo, said national police commissioner Fannie Masemola.

A Renault Kangoo van was then found nearby on the banks of Hennops River, in the area of Centurion.

The three officers were travelling from Free State to Limpopo, when they went missing.

Divers searched that part of the river and recovered five bodies between Monday and Tuesday.

Along with the three constables, the divers found the remains of a police admin clerk, who has not been named. The clerk had been driving the Renault van, said Gen Masemola.

He added that the fifth body was decomposed and had not yet been identified.

The police are still looking for the VW Polo that the officers were travelling in.

The search for the missing police officers has been followed closely by the South African public and prayers for the three constables had been circulating across social media.

After the bodies were found, devastated loved ones gathered along the banks of the Hennops river, holding candles.

| South Africa Police Service (Pic): Constable Boipelo Senoge was among the three officers whose bodies were found in the river

In an address on Tuesday, Gen Masemola said: "We don't want to speculate at this stage what led to the discovery of these bodies in this river, whether it was an accident or not, our investigation will reveal those aspects once we find their vehicle."

This marks a significant change in tone from Sunday, when the commissioner said: "We cannot have criminals undermine the authority of the state by kidnapping three police officers. This is just a stern warning to those behind this incident, either you hand yourselves over, or we will fetch you ourselves."