Toxic water fears as sludge reaches Danube

THE toxic red sludge that burst out of a Hungarian factory’s reservoir and inundated three villages reached the mighty Danube yesterday after wreaking havoc on smaller rivers and creeks, an emergency official said.

The European Union and environmental officials had feared an environmental catastrophe affecting half a dozen nations if the red sludge, a waste product of making aluminum, contaminated the Danube, Europe’s second-longest river.

Officials from Croatia, Serbia and Romania were testing the river every few hours yesterday but hoping that the Danube’s huge water volume would blunt the impact of the spill.