Hungary’s tide of poisonous red sludge washes into the Danube

The tide of poisonous red sludge has reached the Danube, one of Europe's biggest rivers, a Hungarian official said today.

Emergency services spokesman Tibor Dobson said the toxic flood, which has left more than 120 people with chemical burns, had flowed into local creeks that flow into a network of waterways connected to the Danube.

But he claimed it was unlikely to cause further damage to the environment. Mr Dobson said the pH content, a measure of acidity, of the sludge originally above 12, is now less than 10.

South of Hungary, the 1,775-mile Danube flows through Croatia, Serbia, Romania, Bulgaria, Ukraine and Moldova before emptying into the Black Sea.

Authorities have ordered a criminal inquiry into the accident, which killed at least four people.

After bursting from the reservoir at the plant in Ajka, 100 miles south-west of Budapest on Monday and flooding three villages, the sludge, a waste product of aluminium production that can contain heavy metals, ended up in the Marcal river, part of the tributary system feeding the Danube. Hundreds of people were evacuated.

Creeks in Kolontar, the closest town to the spill site, were swollen red and residents said they were empty of fish.

"It is important that we do everything possible that it would not endanger the Danube," EU environment commissioner Janez Potocnik said in Brussels.

"This is a serious environmental problem," EU spokesman Joe Hennon said. "We are concerned, not just for the environment in Hungary, but this could potentially cross borders."

The sludge spill is "one of the top three environmental disasters in Europe in the last 20 or 30 years", said Herwit Schuster, a spokesman for Greenpeace.

Philip Weller, of the International Commission for the Protection of the Danube, said in Brussels that factories and towns along the Danube might have to shut down their water intake systems. He said large fish in the Danube could ingest any heavy metals carried downstream, potentially endangering people who eat them.

The people of Kolontar, their shoes spattered with red mud, crowded around an official of the company blamed for the disaster and demanded compensation for destroyed homes, fields and livelihoods.

"The whole settlement should be bulldozed into the ground," shouted Janos Potza. "There's no point for anyone to go back home." "Those who can, will move out of Kolontar. From now on, this is a dead town," said Beata Gasko Monek.

The world's biggest aluminium plants are in Australia, Brazil and China. The plant in Ajka ranks 53rd in production levels.