Hungarian toxic mud reaches Danube

The toxic 'red mud' from a ruptured chemical reservoir at an aluminium plant in Hungary that flooded local villages has now reached the Danube river. But attempts to reduce the mud's dangerously high pH have succeeded, lowering it from around 13 to 9.5. Since the disaster occurred on Monday, emergency services have been struggling to prevent 700,000m3 of caustic red mud reaching the Danube, using plaster to dam the flow. The material, which covered houses, roads and gardens, had a pH of 13, making it extremely hazardous to humans and capable of burning skin on contact, according to Anna Nagy, the Hungarian government spokesperson for the disaster. Four people have been killed and over 60 hospitalised. So far there have been 123 causalities 12 are in a severe condition. A further three people are still missing. The Hungarian government has evacuated 700 people from three villages in the Veszprem region, 'double strengthened' the reservoir and started 24-hour monitoring of the site. National investigations into the cause of the accident are underway. 'One thing is for sure: there was no natural cause,' says Nagy. 'It was obviously a human mistake.' The total cost of the disaster will run to billions of Hungarian florints (tens of millions of pounds), she adds.