BUDAPEST, Hungary, Oct. 13 (UPI) -- A top executive of the Hungarian aluminum company whose site spilled toxic sludge has been freed for lack of evidence, his lawyer said Wednesday.
Zoltan Bakonyi's attorney, Janos Banati, told The New York Times a judge in Veszprem in western Hungary released the managing director, saying prosecutors had not made a convincing case. "Not even the suspicion of a crime can be verified," Banati said.
Almost 200 million gallons of caustic red mud -- a byproduct of the conversion of bauxite to alumina, for aluminum -- poured out of a reservoir after part of its containing wall collapsed Oct. 4. The cascade killed eight people and injured hundreds.
On Monday, the government took control of MAL Zrt, the Hungarian Aluminum Production and Trade Co., and has appointed a state commissioner to manage the company and its assets.
Disaster Relief Commissioner Gyorgy Bakondi told the BBC Wednesday that production at the plant would resume at the end of the week.
The government said a new dam is now ready in case of a second spill.
