Deadly and toxic sludge, Hungary calls for help
A mud tank at an aluminum plant broke on Monday, for some unknown reason, and dumped more than a million cubic meters of irritating and toxic red mud on the city of Ajka and two neighboring communities. .
The current balance sheet is 4 dead, 6 missing and 120 injured.
Seven villages are under threat and a state of emergency has been declared in this region west of Budapest. This is the worst industrial disaster that Hungary has ever known. We can also talk about an ecological disaster.
The tank ruptured and dumped its toxic contents into a small river in a huge wave two meters high. The wave overflowed the river and swept over the neighboring communes by destroying and taking everything in its path,
A hundred people were saved from the toxic flood, nearly 400 people were relocated urgently. According to a first estimate, 7000 people are affected by this disaster.
The authorities deployed 500 police and military, and six emergency teams. In addition to rescue people, they cast plaster in the Marcal River to try to stem the flow.
The hydrographic network is under heavy surveillance for fear of toxic sludge pouring into the Danube, even beyond Hungary.
Hungarian authorities suspended the activities of the aluminum plant. The management explained that the tank was not a problem during Monday's inspection and that the disaster may be due to human error.
Greeenpeace Hungary talks about a crack that was visible on the satellite images on the eve of the disaster.
In any case, it is a major disaster for Hungary, which is asking for help from the European Union. The reconstruction and cleaning of the soil will take at least a year and cost tens of millions of euros, warned the Hungarian Minister of the Environment.
Source: http://www.rtbf.be/info/monde/catastrop ... rie-261867
Other sources:
http://www.romandie.com/ats/news/101006 ... japuw5.asp
http://www.france-info.com/monde-europe ... 14-15.html
In my opinion there are big risks in the medium (long) term for the quality of agricultural land and the habitability of the region ...