WASHINGTON, Oct. 12 (UPI) -- The extent of the toxic red sludge that has devastated Hungary, killing eight and injuring hundreds, is so great it is visible from space, scientists say.
An image from NASA's EO-1 Earth-observing satellite taken Saturday showed the miles and miles of the toxic flow, ABC News reported.
The aluminum plant -- site of the reservoir that burst and unleashed a cascade of toxic material said to be 1,000 times more caustic than the dust at ground zero in the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks -- is visible in the image as is a second reservoir of waste from the plant, ABC said.
The red sludge is a byproduct of the aluminum manufacturing process in which caustic soda is used to turn bauxite, aluminum ore, into the lightweight metal.
Workers have been racing to build emergency dams in an effort to prevent a second catastrophe, amid fears the already breached and weakened dam of the reservoir may completely collapse and release the remaining sludge.
