The villagers were evacuated at dawn from Kolontar, which is close to the reservoir that burst in western Hungary Monday, killing seven people, injuring scores more and poisoning rivers in the country's worst ecological disaster.

Security forces also warned thousands of residents in the nearby village of Devecser to be ready to be moved if necessary, officials said.

"The reservoir is so damaged that it is likely that it will give way for a second time," Prime Minister Viktor Orban said.

"If the dyke of the reservoir gives way, about 500,000 cubic metres will be released. Several cracks are visible from the north side of the reservoir," he said.

The first flood on October 4 released 1.1 million cubic metres (38.8 million cubic feet) of foul-smelling red toxic sludge into villages and rivers.

"The evacuation of Kolontar began at six in the morning (0400 GMT) after we noticed that the dam started weakening at tank number 10," Disaster Relief Team chief Tibor Dobson told AFP.

One of the new cracks was seven centimetres (three inches) wide, officials said.

The entire area was under surveillance, with helicopters with heat-detecting cameras in the air and 650 policemen on the ground co-ordinating rescue operations, the national police's website said.

"The police's primary tasks are keeping peace and order in the villages and the sealing off of the surrounding areas," it said.

The Kolontar villagers were taken by bus to Ajka, the nearest major town which is 160 kilometres (100 miles) from the capital Budapest.

Some were to stay with friends and relatives and those with nowhere else to go would be put up in the town's sports complex, officials said.

"There is despair and sadness, but no panic," said Orban in Ajka.

Police and army personnel were in Devecser, with a population of about 5,400, to urge people to pack all they need in one suitcase so they could leave quickly if necessary, Dobson said.

Dozens of army trucks and buses were on standby.

"We are prepared for the worst and we can save the residents of Devecser in case of a new spill," the prime minister said.

Work was under way to build a new dam in Kolontar, in case of a new flood, to save those houses that were undamaged in the previous disaster, the Hungarian News Agency MTI reported.

The dam would be four to five metres (around 13 to 16 feet) high and made of earth and rocks, and would be ready in 48 hours.

The death toll rose to seven on Friday, with one person still missing. The dead include a 14-month-old girl.

Around 150 people have been injured, many suffering deep burns, and include some of the first firemen on the scene after the flood.

The prime minister said meanwhile there would be "consequences" after the unprecedented disaster, raising the possibility of action against MAL Hungarian Aluminium Production and Trade Company running the plant.

Nature protection organisation WWF meanwhile said Saturday that the reservoir had been leaking for months, publishing photographs on its website dating back to June.

The pollution already wiped out all life in the smaller Marcal tributary and experts say it will take up to five years for that river to recover.

Officials have insisted there was little risk for the Danube, Europe's second-longest river after the Volga.

Water samples taken Friday in the Danube above Budapest revealed a marked decrease in pollution levels with near-normal alkali, but the ecosystem of the Danube is still threatened.

The countries bordering the Danube, including Slovakia, Croatia, Serbia and Romania, have started regular checks of the river's water quality.

The Hungarian government has set up a website to deliver information about the disaster at www.redsludge.bm.hu.

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