17.05.2014.

Armed Forces defend Sabac

Defence Minister Bratislav Gasic and Serbian CHOD General Ljubisa Dikovic have visited this morning the most critical point in Sabac and the vicinity, where the Sava river threatened to spill. In the Zorka Elixirs factory and near silos in the old part of Sabac, where the river broke through the embankment, cadets of the Military Academy, members of the First Brigade and the Air Force and Air Defence were engaged tonight in filling sacks with sand increasing the level of embankments. The same situation is in the vicinity of the Sevarice village, which is also one of the critical points where the Sava River has broken the embankment.

- These are the Serbian heroes, Defence Minister Bratislav Gasic said upon arrival among the cadets. - The Armed Forces was tasked to save Sabac and it will accomplish this task. They have been continuously controlling the Sava River and its tributaries for 40 hours. We have four critical points, Sava grows three to five inches per hour, and the most difficult situation is on Cevrntija hill where approximately two meters high embankment was built of sand bags. We are closing the gaps that the swollen Sava River could use and thus endanger the residents of Sabac.

Here are the cadets of the Military Academy who are filling the sacks with sand along with the members of the Gendarmerie, a huge number of volunteers and 350 miners from Aleksinac, thus increasing the level of the embankment. I think the situation in Sabac is now much more stable and I am sure we will save Sabac, Defence Minister Bratislav Gasic said.

Pointing out that in Sabac and the vicinity there are several units of the First Brigade , Air Force and cadets of the Military Academy engaged, the Serbian CHOD Ljubisa Dikovic said that the Army has been engaged in the most critical points in Sabac and the vicinity. We expect that the Sava River will reach the highest level in 19 hours, and now we are preparing for the effective and efficient defence, so that we will defend Sabac, said General Dikovic who has been appointed, by the order of Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic as Commander of the Emergency Response Team in Sabac.

Describing the situation on Cevrntija, one of the most critical positions in Sabac, Major General Dusko Zarkovic, Commander of the 250th Air Defence Missile Brigade, said that the members of that unit are faster than the trucks that are bringing in the sand.

- In 20 minutes we fill 20 tons of sacks. We do not have enough sand to load up all the available sacks waiting for the trucks to arrive. We managed to raise the height of the embankment by about two meters, general Žarkovic said.