Three young people, two fifteen-year-olds and an eighteen-year-old, were swimming in the Treska river when the water level suddenly surged. The strong current pulled them under. Minutes stood between them and tragedy - but this time the ending is a good one: all three were rescued, they are alive and have no visible injuries.

The incident was reported to the single emergency number 112. According to the Crisis Management Centre, one of the minors was pulled from the water at once, while the other two were found further downstream. Police, firefighting teams, Emergency Medical Services and residents of the Saraj municipality took part in the rescue operation.

Here is the part that deserves attention. The water did not rise on its own. The Treska's level shot up because of an increased discharge from the „Matka“ dam for electricity production. In other words - while those youngsters were in the water, somewhere upstream a decision was made to release more water, with not a single person on the bank knowing what was coming their way.

Is there a system that warns when the dam is about to release water? Is there a siren, a sign, any kind of announcement downstream, where people swim regularly on hot days? If the answer is „no“, then this was not an accident - it was luck. And luck is not a safety plan.

This time the rescuers arrived in time. The question left hanging over the Treska is a simple one: how many times does the same situation have to repeat before someone puts a bell between the dam and the people in the water?