Forty years ago, an Indian city became the scene of one of the world’s worst industrial disasters.
On the night of December 2, 1984, a toxic gas leaked from Union Carbide India’s pesticide plant in Bhopal, enveloping the central Indian city in a deadly fog that killed thousands of people and poisoned about half a million.
According to government estimates, about 3,500 people died within days of the gas leak and more than 15,000 in the following years. But activists say the death toll is much higher and victims continue to suffer the side effects of poisoning.
In 2010, an Indian court sentenced seven former managers of the factory to light fines and short prison terms. But many victims and activists say justice has still not been served given the scale of the tragedy.
Union Carbide was an American company that Dow Chemicals bought in 1999.
Warning: This story contains details and photos that some readers may find disturbing.
The Union Carbide factory – site of the toxic gas leak [Getty Images]
People exposed to the poisonous gas rest by the side of the road in Bhopal on December 4, 1984 [Getty Images]
A doctor treats a blind victim in the immediate aftermath of the gas leak [Getty Images]
The gas leak caused an exodus as people rushed on trains and buses to leave Bhopal [Getty Images]
People read about the tragedy in the newspapers as it made headlines for days [Getty Images]
Victims and activists claim that many children were born with serious disabilities after the gas leak [Getty Images]
A survivor lights a candle in 2002 in front of portraits of some of the thousands killed by the gas leak [AFP]
In 2008, more than 40 children of victims of the Bhopal gas tragedy protested outside the Prime Minister’s House in the capital Delhi, demanding economic and medical rehabilitation. [Getty Images]
A photo of the abandoned Union Carbide factory site, taken in 2009. [Getty Images]
A 2015 photo shows a wall of the Union Carbide factory covered in graffiti asking people to never forget the horror Bhopal witnessed [Getty Images]
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