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As of this morning, 35.3 million cubic feet of the sludge has leaked across an area that is 15.4 square miles and reaches seven towns. The toxic stream has flowed into the Marcal river, and officials are concerned it will threaten the Raba and the Danube rivers as well. The National Disaster Management Directorate said that hundreds of tons of plaster were being poured into the Marcal river to bind to the sludge to keep it from flowing farther. Environmental Affairs State Secretary Zoltan Illes called the spill an "ecological catastrophe."
The stream of toxic mud was strong enough to move cars in its path and filled one woman's house to a depth of 5 feet. She had to escape through a window and run to higher ground, AP reported.
The four people who died were two women, a young man and a 3-year-old child. Six people are missing, 120 have been injured, and 110 had to be rescued.
The stream of red mud began flowing Monday afternoon after the reservoir in the town of Kolontar burst, according to CNN. Thinking the liquid was just water, residents there rushed into the flood to save their animals, Lajos Németh, 27, told AOL News by phone.
Ecological Catastrophe
A man looks around his home in Devecser, about 150 kms southwest of Budapest, on October 5, 2010 after his house was flooded on October 4 by toxic red sludge from a local aluminium plant. Three persons died and 60 were injured in western Hungary when a reservoir of residue from aluminium production broke and flooded two nearby villages -- Devecser and Kolontar -- with toxic red mud. AFP PHOTO / ATTILA KISBENEDEK (Photo credit should read ATTILA KISBENEDEK/AFP/Getty Images)
A Hungarian woman reacts while seeing her home flooded by toxic mud in the town of Devecser, Hungary, Tuesday, Oct. 5, 2010. Monday's flooding was caused by the rupture of a red sludge reservoir at an alumina plant in western Hungary and has affected seven towns near the Ajkai Timfoldgyar plant in the town of Ajka, 100 miles (160 kilometers) southwest of Budapest. (AP Photo/Bela Szandelszky)
Logs carried in by the flooding toxic mud cover a yard in the town of Devecser, Hungary, Tuesday, Oct. 5, 2010. Monday's flooding was caused by the rupture of a red sludge reservoir at an alumina plant in western Hungary and has affected seven towns near the Ajkai Timfoldgyar plant in the town of Ajka, 100 miles (160 kilometers) southwest of Budapest. (AP Photo/Bela Szandelszky)
A Hungarian soldier, wearing a chemical protection gear, cleans a street flooded by toxic in the town of Devecser, Hungary, Tuesday, Oct. 5, 2010. Monday's flooding was caused by the rupture of a red sludge reservoir at an alumina plant in western Hungary and has affected seven towns near the Ajkai Timfoldgyar plant in the town of Ajka, 100 miles (160 kilometers) southwest of Budapest. (AP Photo/Bela Szandelszky)
An aerial view of the broken dike, center right, of a reservoir containing red mud of an alumina factory near Ajka, 156 kms southwest of Budapest, Hungary, Tuesday, Oct. 5, 2010. The dike broke on Monday, and over one million cubic meters of the poisonous chemical sludge inundated three villages. The flood of toxic mud killed killed a yet unknown number of people, injured more than one hundred, with some people still missing. (AP Photo/MTI, Gyoergy Varga)
An aerial view of the red mud covered streets and debris scattered in Devecser, 164 kms southwest of Budapest, Hungary, taken on Tuesday, Oct. 5, 2010, after a dike of a reservoir containing red mud of an alumina factory in nearby Ajka broke, and over one million cubic meters of the poisonous chemical sludge inundated three villages. The flood of toxic mud killed killed a yet unknown number of people, injured more than one hundred, with some people still missing. (AP Photo/MTI, Gyoergy Varga)
An aerial view of the red mud covered streets and rescue workers engaged in cleaning operation with two excavators in Kolontar, 167 kms southwest of Budapest, Hungary, taken on Tuesday, Oct. 5, 2010, after a dike of a reservoir containing red mud of an alumina factory in nearby Ajka broke, and over one million cubic meters of the poisonous chemical sludge inundated three villages. The flood of toxic mud killed killed a yet unknown number of people, injured more than one hundred, with some people still missing. (AP Photo/MTI, Gyoergy Varga)
An aerial view of a car in a flooded area covered with red mud, in Devecser, 164 kms southwest of Budapest, Hungary, Tuesday, Oct. 5, 2010, after a dike of a reservoir containing red mud of an alumina factory in nearby Ajka broke, and over one million cubic meters of the poisonous chemical sludge inundated three villages. The flood of toxic mud killed killed a yet unknown number of people, injured more than one hundred, with some people still missing. (AP Photo/MTI, Gyoergy Varga)
An aerial view of the red mud covering streets and neighborhood of Kolontar, 167 kms southwest of Budapest, Hungary, taken on Tuesday, Oct. 5, 2010, after the rupture of a red sludge reservoir at an alumina plant, in nearby Ajka, with over one million cubic meters of the poisonous chemical sludge inundating several villages. The flood of toxic mud killed killed a yet unknown number of people, injured more than one hundred, with some people still missing. (AP Photo/MTI, Gyoergy Varga)
A traffick lamp is seen at the plant of the Hungarian Aluminium Production and Trade Company (MAL) in Ajka about 150 kms south-west from the Hungarian capital Budapest, on October 5, 2010 as the factory was closed by the Hungarian government. Hungary declared a state of emergency today after a toxic mud spill killed four people and injured 120 in what officials described as Hungary's worst-ever chemical accident. With eight people in serious condition and as many as six people missing, officials fear the death toll could rise after the walls of a reservoir of residue at an aluminium plant in Ajka, 165 kilometres (102 miles) west of Budapest, broke on Monday afternoon. AFP PHOTO / ATTILA KISBENEDEK (Photo credit should read ATTILA KISBENEDEK/AFP/Getty Images)
"Then they realized it was toxic and they got hurt and injured and burned," Németh, who lives in Budapest but spoke with friends and family in the area around the spill, said. "Everyone is talking about this issue and I think people are afraid of the pollution, but that's understandable because nobody knows what's inside."
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said today that the spill could have been caused by a human error, because there were no signs of natural causes, according to Reuters. But the company that owns the aluminum plant, MAL Zrt., has already issued a release absolving itself of responsibility.
"According to the current evaluation, company management could not have noticed the signs of the natural catastrophe nor done anything to prevent it even while carefully respecting technological procedures," the company said in a statement. It also said that the red mud was not considered toxic waste by European standards.
Local environmentalists (and chemical burns) say otherwise. The Clean Air Action Group says that "red sludge is, by volume, the largest amount of toxic waste in Hungary."
Read more at The Associated Press.
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