Hungarian soldiers clean a yard flooded by toxic mud today in Devecser, Hungary. The sludge has reached Europe's Danube River but no immediate damage was evident.

KOLONTAR, Hungary — The toxic red sludge that burst out of a metals plant reservoir and inundated three villages reached the Danube today, but an Hungarian emergency official said no immediate damage appeared in Europe's second-longest river.

The European Union and environmental officials had feared an environmental catastrophe affecting half a dozen nations if the red sludge, a waste product of making aluminum, contaminated the 1,775-mile Danube.

The reservoir break Monday disgorged a toxic torrent into local creeks that flow into waterways leading to the Danube. Creeks in Kolontar, the closest town to the spill, were swollen ochre red Wednesday and villagers said they were devoid of fish. Kolontar is 45 miles south of the Danube.

The red sludge reached the western branch of the Danube early today, Hungarian rescue agency spokesman Tibor Dobson told the state MTI news agency. He did not address concerns that the caustic slurry might contain heavy metals but said its pH content had been reduced to the point where it was unlikely to cause further environmental damage.

Dobson said the pH content, which officials earlier said was at 13, was now under 10 and no dead fish had been spotted where the slurry was entering the Danube. The National Disaster Management Directorate said the pH value was at 9.3 and constantly decreasing. Normal ph levels for surface water range from 6.5 to 8.5.

South of Hungary, the Danube flows through Croatia, Serbia, Romania, Bulgaria, Ukraine and Moldova before emptying into the Black Sea.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban today visited the villages coated by sludge and declared the worst-hit area a write-off, saying he sees "no sense" in rebuilding in the same location. Furious residents, however, said the disaster had destroyed the whole community of 800 by making their land valueless.