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EU nations to help Hungary clean up toxic spill

Other News Materials 8 October 2010 22:20 (UTC +04:00)
Experts from a handful of European Union states are set to travel to Hungary over the coming days to help contain a toxic mud spill that has killed six people so far.
EU nations to help Hungary clean up toxic spill

Experts from a handful of European Union states are set to travel to Hungary over the coming days to help contain a toxic mud spill that has killed six people so far, DPA reported according to the European Commission.

The toxic waste spilled from a broken dam at the MAL Magyar plant - which processes bauxite to produce aluminium - on Monday, flooding the village of Kolontar.

Some 120 people required hospital treatment after coming into contact with it.

Ferran Tarradellas, spokesman for the EU's commissioner for disaster response, Kristalina Georgieva, said Friday that "more than five (EU) countries" had responded to an aid request Hungary had submitted a day earlier through the EU's civil protection mechanism.

Authorities had appealed for "three to five experts with strong field experience in handling toxic sludge, decontamination and mitigation of environmental damage" the commission said in a statement.

An announcement on the exact composition of the team would be made later Friday or on Saturday, Tarradellas added.

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