Amman- The Jordan Times said Thursday that search had been continuing over the past 24 hours for its editor and reporter Taylor Luck, 23, and freelance writer Holli Chmela, 27, who went missing while on a vacation in Lebanon during the Eid al-Fitr holiday.

The US embassy in Amman said that the families of Chmela and Luck were asking for the public's assistance in providing information on the possible whereabouts of the two US citizens.

"They have not been heard from since October 1 when they reportedly departed Beirut en route to Byblos and Tripoli," an embassy statement said.

It added that the two journalists arrived in Lebanon on September 29 from Amman for vacation.

"The two reported to a friend on October 1 that they were travelling from Beirut to Tripoli via Byblos that same day. They were then to cross by land to Syria before returning to Jordan.

Chmela and Luck were due to report to work in Jordan on October 4," the US embassy statement said.

Luck had confirmed to co-workers at the Jordan Times that he wanted to visit Aleppo, where he had previously spent a vacation, the paper said.

It quoted sources as saying that both journalists had booked a one-way airline ticket from Amman to Beirut.

The US embassies in Amman, Beirut and Damascus as well as the State Department in Washington, were "coordinating" search efforts, the paper said.

In the first reaction to the issue by the Jordanian government, the Minister of State for Media Affairs and Communication Nasser Judeh expressed concern over the case of Chmela and Luck and said the authorities were "closely following the issue".

He said the Jordanian embassy in Beirut was instructed to fully cooperate with the US embassy in this respect. (dpa)