EMERGENCY services have urgently warned of the dangers of swimming in open water after three people drowned in the space of a week.

Owais Malik, 17, could not be resuscitated after the Loch Lomond Rescue Boat crew pulled him from the loch on Sunday evening.

Police received a report of a man in trouble at around 7.16pm and asked the rescue boat crew to go to a beach at Culag, around two miles north of Luss.

Owais was rushed to the Royal Alexandra Hospital in Paisley but was pronounced dead by medical staff there.

Owais’s sister spoke this week of how her brother drowned as he tried to pull her to safety.

Sunday’s tragedy followed the death of 25-year-old Rebin Rehan, who is understood to have drowned in the loch last Wednesday evening.

He was reported missing at around 9pm that night near the Maid of the Loch and Drumkinnon Bay area.

The Loch Lomond Rescue Boat crew carried out a search of the area late that night and at first light the next morning, and Rebin’s body was found at around 10am on Thursday.

And a 64-year-old woman, understood to be from the Helensburgh area, died after going for a swim in Loch Caolisport, near the remote Argyll village of Ormsary, last Thursday.

The body of the woman, who has not been publicly identified, was found by a coastguard helicopter after her grandson raised the alarm.

Police Scotland has also urged members of the public not to enter the water, regardless of the weather and swimming ability.

Inspector Roddy MacNeill from Police Scotland said: “Although the weather is fine, the water temperature doesn’t rise a great deal and can cause cold water shock, in addition to the unknown depth of the water, which varies greatly over short distances. I would ask people determined to enter the water, not to do so if not fully confident that you are of sufficient ability to be safe and stay within your depth.

“The rescue boat has uplifted people from the water during summer who are wearing appropriate wetsuits yet still suffer from the effects of the cold.

“The best policy is not to enter the water at all, as getting into difficulty causes others to react which puts them at risk also.”

A spokesman for the Loch Lomond Rescue Boat team asked members of the public to avoid swimming in open waters, and to be wary that though the depth may appear shallow at first, the situation can quickly become dangerous as the loch bed level drops to create very deep water.

The spokesman said: “In both situations it’s started off as very shallow water, and all of a sudden it drops off and down.”