GENEVA – Drinking water in Hungarian villages hit by a toxic sludge spill is safe but must be continuously monitored – along with air, soil and food – for contamination by heavy metals, the World Health Organisation has said.
Reporting on an investigation conducted in Hungary last week, the WHO called for removal of the corrosive mud to be completed, especially from houses, to minimise residents’ exposure.
Residents and workers involved in the clean-up should be given clear advice on protecting themselves, the organisation added.
Hundreds of villagers have returned after being evacuated in the October 4th spill of industrial waste at an alumina plant in western Hungary. Nine people were killed and 150 injured, mainly by chemical burns.
A million cubic metres of lethal red mud surged out of the reservoir, flooding three villages and adjacent farmland and fouling rivers, including a tributary of the Danube.
Downstream from the disaster site, the Danube flows through or skirts the territory of Croatia, Serbia, Bulgaria, Romania, Moldova and Ukraine en route to the Black Sea. – (Reuters)