The Bhopal disaster (commonly referred to as Bhopal gas tragedy) was a gas leak incident in India, considered one of the world's worst industrial catastrophes. It occurred on the night of December 2–3, 1984 at the Union Carbide India Limited (UCIL) pesticide plant in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, India. A leak of methyl isocyanate gas and other chemicals from the plant resulted in the exposure of hundreds of thousands of people. The toxic substance made its way in and around the shantytowns located near the plant. Estimates vary on the death toll. The official immediate death toll was 2,259 and the government of Madhya Pradesh has confirmed a total of 3,787 deaths related to the gas release. Others estimate 3,000 died within weeks and another 8,000 have since died from gas-related diseases. A government affidavit in 2006 stated the leak caused 558,125 injuries including 38,478 temporary partial and approximately 3,900 severely and permanently disabling injuries. source: wikipedia Union Carbide is 100% owned by Dow Chemical.
On December 2-3, 1984, as the people of the central Indian town of Bhopal slept, over 40 tons of a deadly toxic gas — methyl isocyanate — leaked from the pesticide plant owned by Dow Chemical subsidiary Union Carbide India Limited. Company executives could have warned the public, but instead chose not to sound the emergency alarm bell in town, sending confused parents and children fleeing directly into the poison cloud. The Bhopal disaster — the worst industrial disaster in history — has so far claimed over 20,000 lives. And the death toll is still rising, 27 years later, because Dow Chemical — the company responsible — has never cleaned it up. To this day, chronic health problems, cancer, and birth defects plague over 150,000 people in this impoverished community. source: sumofus.org
For further information see:
Bhopal.org or Bhopal.net
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