Hungary declares a state of emergency after toxic sludge disaster...

The Hungarian government has declared a state of emergency after a third person died today in flooding from a ruptured red sludge reservoir at an alumina plant. Six people were missing and 120 injured in what officials said was an ecological disaster.

The sludge, a waste product in aluminum production, contains heavy metals and is toxic if ingested. Many of the injured suffered burns as the sludge seeped through their clothes. Two of the injured were in life-threatening condition. An elderly woman, a young man and a three-year-old child were killed.

The chemical burns could take days to reveal themselves and what may seem like superficial injuries could disguise damage to deeper tissue, Peter Jakabos, a doctor at a hospital in Gyor where several of the injured were taken, said on state television. More...

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