'Adam torso' remains are buried

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The remains of an African boy whose torso was found floating in the River Thames have been buried.

The child, named Adam by police investigators, whose body had been kept in a mortuary, was laid to rest in an unmarked grave at a London cemetery.

The low-key ceremony was non-denominational and "celebrated Adam's short life", the BBC was told.

The boy, discovered in September 2001, is believed to have been the victim of a ritual killing.

Adam's remains had been kept at Poplar mortuary in Tower Hamlets, east London, while police investigated the circumstances of his death.

We are still hopeful that one day, Adam's family will come forward, and they can arrange their own services Police source

The burial service took place on 5 December and was attended by a small group of representatives from across the inquiry.

"It was a sad, thoughtful and dignified service to celebrate Adam's short life," a police source told the BBC News website.

After a five-year probe, Adam has yet to be identified and officers felt the time was right to lay him to rest.

"We are still hopeful that one day, Adam's family will come forward, and they can arrange their own services," said the source.

Major inquiry

When his body was found in the river near Tower Bridge, it prompted a major police inquiry.

Detectives suspect Adam, who was aged between four and six, was a victim of a "muti" ritual killing days after arriving in the UK.

Ground-breaking forensic work, which involved taking samples from the child's bones, linked him to west Africa and then Nigeria.

The hunt led officers to a rural area measuring just 50x100 miles (80x160km) in the south-west of the country, near Benin City and Ibadan.

Several arrests have been made in a case which showed links between human trafficking and ritual abuse, but no-one has yet been charged.