Danish Police have said the size of a headless female torso found in water in Copenhagen suggested it could be that of a Swedish journalist who died after taking a submarine ride with the vessel's inventor.

Police said divers were still searching the area and they were investigating reports of other body parts that may have been spotted in Copenhagen harbour.

Danish inventor Peter Madsen has been charged with killing Kim Wall in his home-made submarine.

"We're dealing with a torso where arms, legs and head were cut off deliberately. The length of the torso doesn't speak against it being Kim Wall, but we still don't know," Copenhagen police spokesman Jens Moller said in a video statement.

Mr Madsen told a court she had died in an accident on board the submarine and that he had buried her at sea, changing his earlier statement that he dropped her off alive in Copenhagen.

Police are conducting DNA tests to identify the torso - found on Monday by a passing cyclist - and the results are due on Wednesday morning, Mr Moller said.

The bizarre case has dominated Danish and Swedish media, and drawn interest from around the world.

Mr Madsen has been charged with the manslaughter of Ms Wall, who has been missing since he took her out to sea in his 17-metre (56 feet) submarine on 10 August. He denies the charge.

He was rescued a day later after his UC3 Nautilus sank in the narrow strait between Denmark and Sweden. Police found nobody else in the wreck.

Mr Madsen, an entrepreneur, artist, submarine builder and aerospace engineer, went before a judge on Saturday for preliminary questioning. The case is closed to the public in order to protect further investigations, police said.