BUDAPEST, Hungary, Oct. 15 (UPI) -- A Hungarian plant where toxic sludge leaked and killed nine people planned to reopen and villagers forced to flee prepared to return home, officials said.
The sludge burst from plant's reservoir Oct. 4 and devastated towns and waterways in western Hungary.
MAL Zrt, the Hungarian Aluminum Production and Trade Co., was scheduled to reopen Friday. It has been put under caretaker management until people affected by the spill are compensated and the pollution cleaned up, the BBC reported. The plant will be under state control for up to two years.
Criminal investigators are looking into whether the plant's owners followed safety regulations and if they were aware of warnings that the waste reservoir might collapse.
Besides the nine deaths, about 150 people were injured after up to 24.7 million cubic feet of toxic byproduct from the production of alumina spilled from the storage reservoir. The sludge covered an area of about 15.6 square miles.
