EU Offers Aid in Hungary`s Toxic Flooding
Baku, October 19 (AZERTAC). European Union crisis response chief Kristalina Georgieva says massive toxic flooding in Hungary that killed nine people and injured more than 120 others has underscored the need for a stronger European disaster response.
The European Commissioner for International Cooperation, Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Response Kristalina Georgieva announced in Budapest the European Union will provide machinery, vehicles and materials to help Hungary overcome its worst industrial accident on record.
Since October 4 about 800,000 cubic-meters of toxic sludge, a byproduct of aluminum production, has leaked from a reservoir of a metals plant in western Hungary, flooding towns and villages in an area as large as 40 square kilometers.
Speaking after talks with Hungarian government officials, Georgieva said the EU support is aimed at assisting Hungary in protecting civilians and to clean up the poisonous red mud.
Experts from Austria, Belgium, France, Germany and Sweden are to investigate the sludge, and Georgieva said that team provides European assistance similar to that given to the United States during its recent oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico.
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