More than £183,000 has been raised to fund a private search for missing Cardiff City footballer Emiliano Sala.
The official search for the Argentine striker, 28, and pilot David Ibbotson, 59, was called off on Thursday.
But the cash, raised via a GoFundMe page, has allowed the footballer’s family to fund two boats, which started looking on Saturday.
The plane disappeared from radar as the pair flew over the English Channel on their way to Cardiff on Monday night.
A former Guernsey harbourmaster said the search was “like looking for a needle in a haystack, when you don’t even know where the haystack is”.
Argentina’s president Mauricio Macri has joined calls by Sala’s family for the search to resume.
Footballers including Manchester City’s Ilkay Gundogan are among 2,448 people who have contributed to donations for the private search on a GoFundMe page.
Other contributors include Nantes manager Vahid Halilhodzic, Leicester City winger Demarai Gray, Paris Saint-Germain midfielder Adrien Rabiot and Bayern Munich’s Corentin Tolisso.
Organisers of the page, Paris-based football agency Sport Cover, hope to raise a total of €300,000 (£260,000).
Meanwhile, a petition launched in France to have the search resumed has now gathered more than 80,000 signatures.
Sala’s sister Romina has also said she is “convinced Emiliano and the pilot are alive somewhere in the channel”.
“We’re asking please don’t stop with this effort,” she said, during a visit to Cardiff.
Among those joining calls for the search to continue are Barcelona forward Lionel Messi.
Three planes and five helicopters racked up 80 hours combined flying time looking for the plane, working alongside two lifeboats and other passing ships.
