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BBC

Hungary says it will cost tens of millions of dollars and take at least a year to clean up the damage caused by a spill of industrial toxic red sludge.

Emergency workers are trying to stop the spill, from an alumina plant, from flowing into major waterways, including the River Danube

A state of emergency has been declared in three western counties after the chemical waste burst from a reservoir.

Four people are known to have died, and 120 were injured. Six more are missing.

At least seven villages and towns are affected including Devecser, where the torrent was 2m (6.5ft) deep.

The flood swept cars from roads and damaged bridges and houses, forcing the evacuation of hundreds of residents.

The sludge - a mixture of water and mining waste containing heavy metals - is considered hazardous, according to Hungary's National Directorate General for Disaster Management (NDGDM).

While the cause of the deaths has not yet been officially established, the victims are thought to have drowned.

'Desperate effort'
 
Some 600,000-700,000 cubic metres (21m-24m cubic feet) of sludge escaped from the plant, 160km (100 miles) from the capital, Budapest, affecting an area of 40 sq km (15.4 sq miles).

Environment Minister Zoltan Illes told the BBC the clean-up would take at least one year and probably require technical and financial assistance from the European Union.

He described the spill as Hungary's worst chemical accident.

"The area is very big, very heavy contamination, lots of human resources are needed, definitely machinery is needed," he said.

Mr Illes said a layer of soil 2cm deep (0.8 inches) would need to be removed from the whole of the contaminated region.

With 7,000 people affected directly by the disaster, a state of emergency was declared in the county of Veszprem where the spill occurred, and Gyor-Moson-Sopron and Vas, where the sludge appeared to be heading.

At least 390 residents have been relocated and 110 rescued from flooded areas, the NDGDM said.

Nearly 500 police officers and soldiers, including six emergency detection teams, have been deployed. Plaster has been poured into the Marcal river in a bid to bind the sludge and stop further flooding.

An alert has been declared for the Marcal and Torna rivers, and Mr Illes said workers were "desperately" trying to stop contamination of the Raba and Danube rivers.

BBC

Experts tackling the toxic red sludge from a spill at an industrial plant in Hungary say Friday will be crucial in preventing the spread of pollution.

The alkali sludge reached the Danube on Thursday and emergency workers are pouring huge quantities of clay and acid into streams to neutralise it.

There are now fears toxins from drying sludge could be spread through the air.

A million cubic metres (35m cu ft) of sludge spilled from a reservoir at an alumina plant in Ajka, western Hungary.

Four people were killed and about 100 injured. Three more are still missing.

Countries downstream from Hungary, including Croatia, Serbia and Romania, are drawing up emergency plans.

The chief of Hungary's disaster relief services, Tibor Dobson, said it should become clear in the first half of Friday whether the alkaline solution and heavy metals, which started to reach the Danube on Thursday, had continued to rise or started to fall.

For five days, clay and acid have been poured into affected rivers around the clock to try to soak up the toxic waste.