Mystery as river turns orange and kills wildlife becoming 'ecological disaster'

A river in Slovakia which mysteriously turned orange is killing wildlife and turning into an " ecological disaster".

Polluted water from an iron ore mine in eastern Slovakia has turned has turned the Slana River orange.

And now Slovakian authorities have confirmed they are taking steps to reduce the amount of polluted water stemming from the mine, which is state owned.

However, locals further up on the river in the Slovak village of Nizna Slana, where the mine is located, are in despair.

Tibor Varga, 35, a local surgeon and keen angler, has been monitoring the river since February when the pollution started and says he has witnessed the slow death of wildlife due to the river's high content of iron and zinc.

Local activist Orosz Ors and his colleague examine dead crayfishes that washed up on the banks of the river (Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

He said: "There is no living creature underneath the pebbles, we can see only rust.

"This high iron content covers the gill of the fish and... reduces the surface where the fish breathe, and they start to suffocate."

The Rudne Bane mining company said the water flowing into the river was underground water emerging from a flooded iron ore pocket, which had been mined until 2008.

A view of the river Slana is seen as its colour has turned deep red and orange due to a mine drainage (Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

Its director Peter Zitnan told Reuters: "Due to chemical reactions, some metals and other materials got into the water which flows out."

He said the colour was due to a high level of iron and confirmed it was not a poisonous leak.

Rudne Bane, a Hungarian water company, filed a criminal complaint against an unknown culprit.

They said the company was preparing a public procurement procedure for a process which would release uncontaminated water from the higher levels of the mine directly into the river.

Orosz Ors inspects the river Slana (Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

The Hungarian water authority is taking regular samples of water from the Slana, called Sajo on the Hungarian side.

However, they said the river on its side had only occasionally turned "slightly brown" and due to substantial dilution the pollution had not damaged water quality or killed fish in Hungary.

Locals have said the damage done to the wildlife is devastating (REUTERS)

The Slovakian economy ministry said it told Rudne Bane on May 13 to ensure that water is not flowing into the deeper parts of
the mine.

They asked the finance ministry to release 200,000 euros ($211,460.00) to alleviate the situation.

They added the mining company: "Was not responsible for the situation which has been brewing over the past 10 years."

Tibor Varga, a local angler and activist, shows dead crayfish from the river (REUTERS)

The Slovak environment ministry said checks at the closest point to the Hungarian border showed levels of possibly dangerous materials or elements did not exceed accepted or "in norm" levels despite the river still being of red-orange colour.

In the Hungarian parliament, state secretary Balazs Orban said this week that polluted water from the Nizna Slana iron
mine has been flowing into the river without any dilution or treatment.

The river has turned completely orange and is tragically killing wildlife (REUTERS)

He said the damaged "has caused a serious ecological catastrophe on the Slovak part of the river."

He said the two countries' authorities were cooperating all the time.

But residents in the nearby Slovakian villages and in Sajopuspoki, the first village along the river in Hungary, want measures put in place quickly to stop the pollution.

Janos Ragyina, a resident of Plesivec, said: "It is a catastrophe and some say that we can eat the fish.

"Well, I will cook it for anyone who catches fish here, if any are left at all."