Hungary Sludge Reaches Danube

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KOLONTAR, HUNGARY (GaeaTimes.com)- Emergency officials in Hungary are trying their level best to contain an estimated one million cubic meters of red sludge from spreading into Europe’s second largest river Danube. The toxic red mud was released after a reservoir at an alumina refining plant in Ajka, burst on Monday. Since then the emergency crews have been involved in the process of containing the spread of the sludge which can wreak an environmental disaster if it gets out of control. Although it has been reported that the red sludge has reached Danube on Thursday, officials have emphasized that as of now any kind of damage that it might have caused to the river is still not very evident.

Despite the repeated assurance of the emergency officials that they would be able to contain the red sludge before its spreads into the Danube, as of now the situation looks quite grim as the toxic red sludge has already reached Raba river which flows into the second largest river in Europe. In a bid to negate the toxic effects of the red sludge, workers in Hungary are pouring plasters as well as fertilizers in it so that its alkalinity is reduced to a large extent.

Although the reservoir at the alumina refining plant which is located 160 kilometers in the southeast direction of Budapest, Hungary that ruptured on earlier this week has been repaired and flow of the toxic sludge has been stopped, the amount that has already overflowed continues to pose a major threat. As many as three people, including two children are confirmed to have been killed in the environmental disaster that ensued since the rupture of the reservoir.