In October 2010, approximately one million cubic meters of red mud from an alumina plant near Kolontár in Hungary was accidentally released into the surrounding countryside in the Ajka alumina plant accident, killing ten people and contaminating a large area. All life in the Marcal river was said to have been "extinguished" by the red mud, and within days the mud had reached the Danube. The long-term environmental effects of the spill have been minor after a remediation effort by the Hungarian government.