Toxic sludge in Hungary burns, kills residents

KOLONTAR, Hungary - A lethal torrent of toxic red sludge from a metal refinery engulfed towns in Hungary, burning villagers through their clothes and threatening an ecological disaster yesterday as it swept toward the Danube River.

The flood of caustic red mud triggered a state of emergency declaration by Hungarian officials. At least four people were killed, six were missing and 120 injured, many with burns.

Hundreds were evacuated in the disaster Monday, when a gigantic sludge reservoir burst its banks at an alumina plant in Ajka, 100 miles southwest of Budapest. The torrent of sludge inundated homes, swept cars off roads and damaged bridges.

Named for its bright red color, the material is a waste product in aluminum production that contains heavy metals and is toxic if ingested.

In Kolontar, the town closest to the plant, Erzsebet Veingartner, 61, was in her kitchen when the 12-foot-high wave of red slurry hit, sweeping away everything in its path.

"All I saw was the stream swelling like a huge wave," she said as she surveyed her backyard, still under 6 feet of noxious muck. "I lost all my chickens, my ducks, my Rottweiler, and my potato patch," sobbed the woman, a widow who gets by on a $350 monthly pension.

Emergency workers wearing chemical protection gear rushed to pour tons of plaster into the Marcal River in an attempt to bind the sludge and keep it from flowing on to the Danube. - AP