In total 19 Dutch nationals were evacuated from Niger on Wednesday and the embassy in the capital Niamey has been closed to the public, caretaker foreign minister Wopke Hoekstra has confirmed.

The evacuees were brought out of the country on several different flights in the wake of last week’s military coup.

The ambassador and key staff will remain in Niger to keep in touch with the small number of Dutch nationals who cannot or who are unwilling to leave, the ministry said.

Some 25 Dutch nationals are registered as living in the West African country.

Hundreds of European nationals are being evacuated from Niger following the coup which has plunged Niger and its neighbouring countries into a political crisis.

France, in particular, has a large number of nationals in Niger. The country only gained independence from the former colonial power in 1960.