The Hungarian government has turned to the national Parliament on Monday requesting it to prolong the current national state of emergency that was declared following the contamination of the three western Hungarian countries by a toxic red-sludge spill till December 31, 2010.
A sludge reservoir at the Ajkai Timfoldgyar alumina plant in Hungary burst on October 4, 2010, releasing around 180-190 million gallons of red mud, a refining by-product. Nine people have been killed, over 150-200 injured, three are still missing and over 60 have been hospitalized. Three places namely Devecser, Somlovasarhelyd and Kolontar have been mainly affected by this spill.
The muddy red sludge is waste from the early stages of aluminum production. Some victims of the disaster are thought to have drowned; while many of those injured have suffered chemical burns. Hungary says it will take at least a year to clean up the red mud from an alumina plant reservoir in the western country of Veszprem.
Experts from WHO immediately acted to stabilize the situation in Hungary and provided necessary expertise guidance to the Government-led assessment of potential short- and long-term health impact of a sludge spill that affected the country's western territories. Firefighters and soldiers were sent to the affected area earlier this week carrying out clean-up tasks with bulldozers.
The extension of the emergency state was confirmed by Government Commissioner, Gyorgy Bakondi, who is the care-taker of the controversial alumina plant that was responsible for the spilled of nearly 1-mil cu m of toxic sludge, causing both soil and air pollution.
A criminal negligence inquiry was also launched by the police in Hungary to look into the matter and detect any possible case of negligence. This investigation will be headed by Hungary's National Bureau of Investigation （MNY）.
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