Mud Flow Breaches Dam in Indonesia

Hot mud flowing from a gas well in Indonesia that has inundated a large swath of Java island breached a dam on Thursday, damaging more homes and threatening a key rail network, a government official said.

"People panicked as if a tsunami was coming," said district chief Mochammad Pain in the affected district of Sidoarjo. "In a second, my office was flooded as were other people's houses around here."

The mud began flowing from the well just outside the major industrial city of Surabaya on May 29.

It has since inundated 25 square kilometers (10 square miles) of land, forced more than 10,000 people from their homes, closed a major highway and caused breathing difficulties in scores of villagers.

from the AP via MSN