Foreign Ministry Confirms Death of Cristian Molnar, Heroic Romanian in Italy

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MAE) confirmed the Romanian citizenship of the third person missing, and later found dead, following the floods produced on May 31 in Italy, in the Friuli Venezia Giulia region. It is about Cristian Molnar, whose body was found three weeks after the tragic incident.

The body of the 25-year-old boy was taken by the flood a few weeks ago by the swirling waters of the river together with his girlfriends.

The drop in the water level facilitated the recovery of the Romanian’s body. His body was found stuck between branches and rocks at a distance of about 500 meters from the Roman bridge in Premariacco.

Moments before they were swept away and killed by the flood in Italy, the three young Romanians from Satu Mare were caught hugging each other, in a shocking video. Patrizia, Bianca and Cristian, aged 20, 23 and 25, were filmed embracing as they were surrounded by rapidly rising waters.

The witnesses called the emergency services, and the firefighters who arrived at the scene threw them a rope that the three friends were unable to reach.

The Consulate General of Romania in Trieste urgently contacted the Italian authorities to confirm the information published in the Italian press regarding the finding of a lifeless body in the waters of the Natisone river, Udine province, and to obtain data on the identity and citizenship of the deceased person, according to a MAE statement sent on Sunday.

The Italian authorities informed the representatives of the consular office that the deceased person is a Romanian citizen, and the results of the investigation confirm that this is the third victim of the accident, states the MAE.

The General Consulate of Romania in Trieste is in contact with the family members of the deceased person, ready to provide consular assistance, according to the competences, including by issuing the death certificate and supporting the repatriation of the dead body.

The MFA informs that Romanian citizens can request consular assistance at the telephone numbers of the Consulate General of Romania in Trieste (+39040411652, +390404528136, +39040416350), calls being redirected to the Contact and Support Center for Romanian Citizens Abroad (CCSCRS) and answered by Call Center operators on a permanent basis. Romanian citizens who are faced with a difficult, special, urgent situation can also use the permanent telephone number of the Consulate General of Romania in Trieste (+393408821688).