Court rules ten guilty for red sludge disaster

A court has found ten people guilty in a retrial of the 2010 red sludge disaster. In the Győr court’s non-final ruling, eight were sentenced to prison, six of them receiving suspended terms.

A holding reservoir at MAL’s Ajka plant in western Hungary burst its walls on October 4, 2010, sending 1.1 million cubic metres of poisonous, stinking mud oozing into surrounding area. Some 200 people were injured, hundreds more were left homeless and had their livelihoods destroyed. It also wiped out almost all life in rivers and streams in the immediate vicinity and spread to the Danube river.

The managing director of Mal Zrt, the company that operated the red sludge reservoir which burst and flooded three villages near Ajka, was sentenced to two years and six months. The technical deputy managing director received two years.

In addition to six suspended prison sentences, one person was fined and another reprimanded.

The disaster on October 4, 2010 claimed ten lives and resulted in two hundred injuries and hundreds of buildings became unsuitable for accommodation.

Photo: bartokeszter.hu

Source: MTI