Highly toxic methyl isocyanate gas leaked from the Union Carbide India Limited (UCIL) plant here on the intervening night of December 2 and 3, 1984, killing 5,479 persons and maiming more than five lakh others in one of the world's biggest industrial disasters.
40 Years Later, The Pain Of Bhopal Gas Tragedy Lingers | In Photos
Highly toxic methyl isocyanate gas leaked from the Union Carbide India Limited (UCIL) plant here on the intervening night of December 2 and 3, 1984, killing 5,479 persons and maiming more than five lakh others in one of the world's biggest industrial disasters. According to reports, at the time of the gas tragedy, Bhopal's population was around 8.5 lakh, and nearly 5.2 lakh persons, including 2 lakh children and about 3,000 pregnant women, were then residing in the 36 wards which were later designated as "gas-affected". Children of the gas tragedy victims have been born with several severe congenital disorders like cerebral palsy, intellectual developmental disabilities, Down’s syndrome and muscular dystrophy. A 2016-2017 study found that there were seven times more defects in new-borns of gas victims in comparison to non-victims. Forty years later, the victims are still demanding justice as the case has been dragged over with nearly 30 judges handling the case.
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A gas leakage from this pesticide plant caused the death of hundreds of people. Thousands more were evacuated from their homes.
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The tragedy occurred when a storage tank at a pesticide plant run by Union Carbide exploded and poured cyanide gas into the air in Bhopal.
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Sameer Hasan, 16 years old, with his mother Wahida Bee at home. Sameer was born to parents affected by a carcinogenic and mutagenic water supply.
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Union Carbide, the factory at the centre of the gas tragedy, announced resumption of operations 11 days after the tragedy, triggering a mass exodus.
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Many people lost their sight after the Bhopal tragedy.
Photo: Alain Nogues/Sygma/Sygma via Getty Images
The Bhopal tragedy was the worst chemical disaster in the history of the world.
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In this image from the 20th anniversary of the Bhopal Gas Tragedy, director of the Medicolegal Institute of the Gandhi Medical College, D. K. Satpathy shows a collage that he keeps in his office. In 1984, Dr. Satpathy and his colleagues conducted over 2500 post-mortems in three days.
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