Gostivar police arrested Aratana Asani – head of the public water supply company in this city, and its two top officials Vadedin Dervishi and Leon Nuredini. The arrest come after over 3,000 citizens of Veles suffered health issues from the polluted water.

The three are charged with poisoning the potable water of the city and with “serious crimes against the environment”. While the investigation is still on-going, it’s assumed that workers from the local Komunalec company were pumping untreated water directly into the supply, in order to keep the pressure up.

Tests showed that, in out of four samples, two had fecal bacteria, and one had elevated quantity of chlorine. So far, over 3,100 citizens sought medical assistance in the local hospitals. Starting with July 19th, the number of new patients began to decline, said Healthcare Minister Saso Klekovski. Citizens were informed about the problem and ordered not to drink the water on July 17th.