(AP/Bela Szandelszly)At least six people were killed, 116 hospitalized and a half dozen other missing when the walls to a reservoir at an alumina plant in Western Hungary collapsed, inundating adjacent towns with a fast-moving tsunami of toxic red slurry.
Authorities in Hungrary have also evacuated the nearby village of Kolontar over fears that the remaining walls on the reservoir at the MAL Hungarian Aluminum facility in Ajka could collapse when cracks were discovered. As of early Monday (Hungarian time), Inspectors say that the cracks haven't expanded yet, giving workers time to try and shore up the reservoir's walls.
Meanwhile, Hungary's top investigative agency has opened a criminal probe of MAL's Ajka facility and seized documents related to the maintainence of the reservoir's walls. The wave of sludge reached the Danube river via one of it's tributaries, although observers say that Europe's second largest river is abosrbing it without much inital damage so far. However, there are concerns about the residual sludge along the path drying up and turning into a highly metallic dust that might be inhaled.
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