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6 October 2010
Last updated at
15:47
In pictures: Hungary's toxic spill
Civil Protection Service workers clean streets covered in the toxic mud which spread across an area of 40 sq km (15.4 sq miles) in western Hungary after an aluminium plant reservoir burst its banks.
Some of the streets of Kolontar, about 160km (100 miles) southwest of Budapest, have been cleared enough for residents to be able to return and inspect their homes for damage.
The sludge destroyed all vegetation other than trees. It is a residue from aluminium production which is slightly radioactive and contains heavy metals such as lead, cadmium, and arsenic.
The government says it could take a year to clean and rebuild the villages that have been hit by what officials are calling Hungary's worst ever chemical accident.
The mud seeped into hundreds of houses and contaminated waterways. Hundreds of people have been evacuated.
The army has had to build a temporary bridge in Kolontar to replace the one damaged by the flood. The EU fears the spill could turn into an ecological disaster for countries downriver from Hungary along the Danube.
Hungary has declared a state of emergency in three counties in the west of the country after a toxic mud spill left four people dead and about 120 injured.
The disaster was caused by the rupture of a reservoir at an alumina plant in Ajka, south-west of the capital Budapest.
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