Ministry of Foreign Affairs in contact with five missing Dutch people in Slovenia

The five Dutch nationals who could not be contacted on Saturday morning after a storm in Slovenia have now been found. This was announced by a spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Saturday evening. The ministry is still trying to contact some Dutch nationals in the region, the spokesperson said, without giving an exact number. As far as is known, no Dutch people have been injured.

The ministry does not want to draw any conclusions yet from the fact that it has not yet been able to contact some Dutch people. "The people in the affected area are simply difficult to reach now. The authorities are working hard to restore all connections and get the power grid back up and running," the spokesperson said. "But if, for example, your phone has been washed away, it's difficult to make contact.

Four people died due to the storm, including two Dutch citizens from Gouda. The Dutch ambassador has since arrived in the affected area and is helping Dutch people there, the spokesperson said.

As it has been raining heavily since Thursday evening, the amount of precipitation that normally falls in a month has fallen in the north of the country in 24 hours. According to Slovenian Prime Minister Robert Golob, two-thirds of Slovenia was hit by the "worst natural disaster" in the country's history.

Hundreds of Dutch people had to be evacuated due to the storm, tour operating manager Pieter Melieste of ACSI Kampeerreizen previously announced. They spent the night in sports halls or schools, but many of them were able to return to the campsite on Saturday. For some, this was not possible because of the floods.

For instance, about 400 Dutch people had to be evacuated from a campsite due to heavy flooding there, NOS reported. "Then it was: get out," Dutchman Jeroen Dera told the broadcast about the moment when someone knocked at his door around 10:30 p.m. Dera and his family were staying at a campsite near the border with Croatia.

The Dutch emergency centers SOS International, Eurocross, and ANWB have already received about 100 requests for help from Slovenia. These are mainly about broken vehicles or belongings that have been washed away.