About 500 Dutch stranded in Italy due to severe hailstorms are picked up by buses

About ten Dutch buses are on their way to Italy on Saturday to pick up about 500 Dutch vacationers. The tourists are stranded in the country, in several places around Lake Garda, because the storm there has damaged their means of transport so badly that they can not return home on their own. Furthermore, a second group of stranded Dutch vacationers will be picked up by bus from Northern Italy on Sunday.

According to SOS International, the emergency center that coordinates bus transportation, more than 200 cars are affected. It is expected that the stranded people will be picked up between 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. from about 12 campsites and several other locations. On Sunday morning between 8 a.m. and 11 a.m., the buses should be back in the Netherlands.

In the night from Monday to Tuesday, there were heavy hailstorms and thunderstorms in Italy, which caused major damage to cars and campers, among others, which could not be used as a result.

SOS International, Eurocross, and the ANWB received almost 1400 damage reports from Dutch holidaymakers on Wednesday afternoon. Some of the Dutch tourists' vehicles were so badly damaged by the storm that they can no longer drive, the TV program WNL reported.

In addition, Italian repair shops and glass companies are so busy that they can not repair the Dutch tourist's cars on the spot, according to WNL.