Largest red mud spill
- Who
- Ajkai Timföldgyár alumina plant
- What
- 1000000 cubic metre(s)
- Where
- Hungary (Ajka,)
- When
- 04 October 2010
On 4 October 2010 an industrial accident at the Ajkai Timföldgyár alumina plant, Ajka, Hungary, saw the collapse of a dam wall which was retaining red mud waste in storage lakes. Approximately 1 million cubic metres of toxic red mud was released, flooding nearby villages in a wave up to 2 m high. At least 4 people were killed and over a hundred injured as the mud covered an area of around 40 km2. The flood also killed all life in the nearby Marcal river.
Red mud is the waste product left behind by the Bayer process in which aluminium oxide is refined from bauxite.