The Hungarian alumina plant that flooded part of the country and the Danube River with toxic red sludge will restart production by this weekend, officials announced Wednesday.
"We gave a preliminary permission to reheat the power plant [that serves the alumina plant]. Letting it cool off too much would have caused damages worth about USD 1,5 billion," Disaster Commissioner, Gyorgy Bakondi, said.
He added that the company, responsible for the spill. MAL Zrt, will remain under state control for u to two years. The plant will be guarded by police and will also be monitored by the government.
On Wednesday, it was also announced that the toxic sludge has caused the death of another person, making the total number of victims 9. About 150 others were injured.
Last week, the reservoir of the alumina plant broke and spilled 700,000 cu m of toxic red sludge, which caused the evacuation of people from the nearby villages.
The toxic mud reached the Danube River on Thursday, but Hungarian officials have stated there was no danger of pollution. Probes from the Bulgarian part of the Danube coast reached the same conclusion.
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