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Belgian ambulance (Photo: Wikimedia Commons)
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Belgian ambulance (Photo: Wikimedia Commons)
Monday, 16 May 2016 - 15:50
Twenty Dutch fell ill on Belgian campgrounds
About 20 Dutch are among the people who fell ill on a campsite in the Ardennes, Belgium over the weekend. The campsite was evacuated on Sunday after up to 70 people showed symptoms of poisoning.
A group of 120 Dutch people, both adults and children, are camping on the affected campgrounds - campground Villatoile, according to AD. They booked a weekend through the Dutch association Mountain Network. "This is a tragedy. we feel quite the victim", director Johan Cave said to the newspaper. "You want to give customers a nice weekend and then this happened."
According to Cave, the group of 20 Dutch that fell ill consists of both children and adults. Four people were taken to hospital, but as far as he knows there were no Dutch among them.
The campgrounds will remain closed for the time being, the mayor of nearby Dinant said, according to RTL Nieuws. They Belgian authorities are investigating what caused the illness. They took water samples at the grounds and are expecting test results within 24 to 72 hours. The authorities are also investigating the kitchens and food on the site.
"We maybe too quickly believed that people became sick from the water. It could also be something they ate, or a cause outside the camp", Mayor Richard Fournaux said. "Last week a group of Dutch fell ill. Maybe they brought an infectious bacterium with them."
