ZAGREB, April 1, 2018 - The army was helping supply the people of Slavonski Brod with drinking water on Easter with six tank trucks, each up to 6,000-litre capacity.

The army and tank trucks with drinking water will be available to the local population on Monday too and as long as necessary, the Defence Ministry said on Sunday.

The people of Slavonski Brod and the surrounding municipalities who get water from the local supply plant were left without drinking water on Saturday as it was established that it is polluted with hydrocarbons and cannot be used even after being boiled.

Mayor Mirko Duspara linked the water pollution to Wednesday's oil product leakage during the testing of a pipeline between the oil refinery in Bosanski Brod, Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Slobodnica location.

Duspara briefed President Kolinda-Grabar Kitarović on Saturday evening by phone about the ecological incident and drinking water pollution. She extended full support for resolving the situation as soon as possible. The town was visited on Saturday by Prime Minister Andrej Plenković.

Slavonski Brod town authorities said it had been agreed with the government that the necessary quantities of water would be delivered from the commodity stockpiles until supply was back to normal. About 55,000 litres of bottled water were delivered on Saturday, the county civil protection said.