Hungary: Small town Kolontar symbol of manmade disaster

The name of Kolontar the small Hungarian town invaded by red sludge may soon join those of Bhopal and Chernobyl as symbols of manmade disasters. The bucolic region looks like a horror movie: 16 square miles of landscape — all painted red — cornfields, gardens, woods and the first stories of many homes.

The death toll from this week's industrial disaster in Hungary reached seven on Friday when another body was recovered.

Dozens more are still being treated for burns received when millions of gallons of toxic waste escaped from storage reservoir on Monday. The red tide covered villages and farmland in poisonous red sludge after part of the retaining wall collapsed.

Walls and streetlights are stained red to a height of 3 yards. Hundreds of soldiers, policemen and volunteers, equipped with face masks and rubber boots, are hosing down streets and homes and shoveling mud onto trucks.

About 250 families have been evacuated and the most immediate concern is health.