An aerial view of rescue team members crossing a pontoon-bridge replacing the original bridge which was washed away by a sludge flood in Kolontar, 167km southwest of Budapest, Hungary, last Friday.
HUNGARIAN police and soldiers evacuated 800 villagers yesterday as authorities said a second flood of toxic sludge from a chemicals plant was likely after new cracks appeared in a dyke.
The villagers were evacuated at dawn from Kolontar, which is close to the reservoir that burst in western Hungary last Monday, killing seven people, injuring scores more and poisoning rivers in the country's worst ecological disaster.
Security forces also warned thousands of residents in the nearby village of Devecser to be ready to be moved if necessary, officials said.
"The reservoir is so damaged that it is likely that it will give way for a second time," Prime Minister Viktor Orban said.
"If the dyke of the reservoir gives way, about 500,000 cubic metres will be released. Several cracks are visible from the north side of the reservoir," he said.
The first flood on October 4 released 1.1 million cubic metres of foul-smelling red toxic sludge into villages and rivers.
"The evacuation of Kolontar began at six in the morning after we noticed that the dam started weakening at tank number 10," Disaster Relief Team chief Tibor Dobson told AFP.
One of the new cracks was seven centimetres (three inches) wide, officials said.
The entire area was under surveillance, with helicopters with heat-detecting cameras in the air and 650 policemen on the ground co-ordinating rescue operations, the national police's website said.
"The police's primary tasks are keeping peace and order in the villages and the sealing off of the surrounding areas," it said.
The Kolontar villagers were taken by bus to Ajka, the nearest major town which is 160km from the capital Budapest.
Some were to stay with friends and relatives and those with nowhere else to go would be put up in the town's sports complex, officials said.
"There is despair and sadness, but no panic," said Orban in Ajka.
Police and army personnel were in Devecser, with a population of about 5,400, to urge people to pack all they need in one suitcase so they could leave quickly if necessary, Dobson said. Dozens of army trucks and buses were on standby.
"We are prepared for the worst and we can save the residents of Devecser in case of a new spill," the prime minister said.
Work was under way to build a new dam in Kolontar, in case of a new flood, to save those houses that were undamaged in the previous disaster, the Hungarian News Agency MTI reported.
The dam would be four to five metres (around 13 to 16 feet) high and made of earth and rocks, and would be ready in 48 hours.
The death toll rose to seven last Friday, with one person still missing. The dead include a 14-month-old girl.
The villagers were evacuated at dawn from Kolontar, which is close to the reservoir that burst in western Hungary last Monday, killing seven people, injuring scores more and poisoning rivers in the country's worst ecological disaster.
Security forces also warned thousands of residents in the nearby village of Devecser to be ready to be moved if necessary, officials said.
"The reservoir is so damaged that it is likely that it will give way for a second time," Prime Minister Viktor Orban said.
"If the dyke of the reservoir gives way, about 500,000 cubic metres will be released. Several cracks are visible from the north side of the reservoir," he said.
The first flood on October 4 released 1.1 million cubic metres of foul-smelling red toxic sludge into villages and rivers.
"The evacuation of Kolontar began at six in the morning after we noticed that the dam started weakening at tank number 10," Disaster Relief Team chief Tibor Dobson told AFP.
One of the new cracks was seven centimetres (three inches) wide, officials said.
The entire area was under surveillance, with helicopters with heat-detecting cameras in the air and 650 policemen on the ground co-ordinating rescue operations, the national police's website said.
"The police's primary tasks are keeping peace and order in the villages and the sealing off of the surrounding areas," it said.
The Kolontar villagers were taken by bus to Ajka, the nearest major town which is 160km from the capital Budapest.
Some were to stay with friends and relatives and those with nowhere else to go would be put up in the town's sports complex, officials said.
"There is despair and sadness, but no panic," said Orban in Ajka.
Police and army personnel were in Devecser, with a population of about 5,400, to urge people to pack all they need in one suitcase so they could leave quickly if necessary, Dobson said. Dozens of army trucks and buses were on standby.
"We are prepared for the worst and we can save the residents of Devecser in case of a new spill," the prime minister said.
Work was under way to build a new dam in Kolontar, in case of a new flood, to save those houses that were undamaged in the previous disaster, the Hungarian News Agency MTI reported.
The dam would be four to five metres (around 13 to 16 feet) high and made of earth and rocks, and would be ready in 48 hours.
The death toll rose to seven last Friday, with one person still missing. The dead include a 14-month-old girl.
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