Hungary spill plant due to reopen as villagers return

Dozens of homes in the village of Kolontar, the closest to the plant, were made uninhabitable by the sludge.

Nine people died following the 4 October spill that devastated towns and rivers in the west of the country.

Buses carrying the first few dozen people left the town of Ajka, where evacuated residents had been staying.

"Everything is ready for the residents of Kolontar to return to their homes," a spokeswoman for the disaster relief services, Gyorgyi Tottos, told Agence France Presse.

Over the past few days, a system of dykes has been constructed to protect Kolontar from a possible second spill.

A total of 700 were eventually expected home in the village. They will live on the higher ground, further from the path of the tide of mud from the broken reservoir.

"I was born in Kolontar and I am going to die here, I have never thought about leaving," 84-year-old Ferenc Farkas said as he boarded one of the waiting buses; Kazinform cites BBC.

See www.bbc.co.uk for full version.