Hungary evacuates village threatened by toxic sludge | World news | guardian.co.uk

Hungary evacuates village threatened by toxic sludge | World news | guardian.co.uk

A Hungarian village deluged with red toxic sludge earlier this week has been evacuated after further damage to a burst reservoir at the centre of the deadly chemical spill was discovered.

Prime minister Viktor Orban said the village of Kolontar, which lies next to the reservoir at the alumina plant in Ajka, was evacuated because it was "very likely" that an entire wall of the structure would collapse, releasing a fresh wave of the chemical effluent that has killed at least seven people.

"Cracks have appeared on the northern wall of the reservoir which makes it very likely that the whole wall will collapse," Orban said.

"The wall is in very bad shape. We have started to build dams in the direction of the populated areas to slow the flow of the material in case of a new incident."