By Annabel Fenwick Elliott for MailOnline

A brother and sister who hadn't seen each other for 16 years have been reunited after they were matched unwittingly on Tinder.

Erik de Vries, 24, and Josephine Egberts, 22, were separated back in 1999 after their parents' messy break-up, after which their father took Erik and his twin brother Maarten to Belgium and their mother stayed with Josephine in their native Netherlands, reports DatingSiteKiezen.

Despite Erik and Maarten's best efforts to later track down their sister, it was only after Erik moved back to the Netherlands, joined Tinder and swiped 'right' on Josephine's profile that they were reunited - but the penny didn't drop straight away.

Scroll down for video

Erik de Vries, 24, and Josephine Egberts, 22, were separated back in 1999 after their parents' messy break-up - only to be reunited 16 years later on Tinder (photo posed by models)

Tinder - a global dating app which boasts 21 million matches each day - only allows two people to message each other if both parties express an interest by swiping right on the other's profile picture.

'The first time I swiped her profile I had absolutely no idea,' Erik told Mic. 'In our first conversation I was actually flirting with her so the conversation was very superficial.'

After messaging back and forth, details began to emerge about Josephine that made Erik suspicious of who she might be - namely a girl from Breda, where he had grown up, who had been separated from her twin brothers.

In our first conversation I was actually flirting with her

Initially, Erik backed off over his concerns, but a few days later curiosity got the better of him so he asked Josephine a series of further questions about her past.

Upon realising they were indeed siblings, the pair agreed to meet at a local café.

'When I saw him, it was suddenly very clear,' Josephine told DatingSiteKiezen.

'It was so special to see my own blood brother again after 16 years.'

Erik was reunited with his long-lost sister after swiping right to her profile photo on Tinder (file photo)

Erik's twin Maarten was equally as aghast.

'It’s too crazy for words that you come into contact with each other again like this,' he told NL Times.

'But that also makes it very special. I am very happy that I can now still get to know my sister.'