Hungary declares emergency as toxic sludge leak kills four

AUTHORITIES IN HUNGARY have declared a state of emergency in three of the country’s 20 counties after a reservoir holding toxic sludge from an alumina plan burst, flooding a number of villages and killing four people.

The sludge broke out from the reservoir yesterday afternoon, and it is reported that up to 1.1m cubic metres of the deadly goo has leaked onto the streets nearby.

Chemical burns from the material can take days to develop, and apparently menial injuries can cause more serious damage to deeper tissue. The sludge is poisonous if ingested.

The leak occurred near the town of Ajka, 100 miles southwest of Budapest.

The four people killed include an elderly woman and two children aged 3 and 1. All three are said to have drowned, while a fourth victim – a 25-year-old man – died when his car was overturned by the flood. Six more people are missing.

Hungary declares emergency as toxic sludge leak kills four

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Another 62 people have been hospitalised, including six policeman, a soldier and eight firemen. Many incurred injuries when the sludge seeped through their clothes.

Hundreds of tonnes of plaster are being poured into the country’s Marcal river in an attempt to solidify the sludge and stop it from flowing downstream to other towns in the coutnry.

Alumina is a colourless substance that is used as a starting material for the smelting of aluminium metal. No official cause of the accident has been offered, though significant rainfall may have swelled the contents of the reservoir to breaking point.

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