Justice demanded for victims of Bhopal leak

CIVIL rights activists, survivors and other protesters converged on Bhopal this week to mark the 20th anniversary of the world’s worst industrial accident and demand justice for hundreds of thousands of people still suffering.

A leak of 40 tonnes of poisonous methyl isocyanate gas from a Union Carbide pesticide plant on December 3, 1984, killed at least 10,000 people in this central Indian city and affected more than 555,000 others, although the exact number of victims has never been clear. Many died over the years due to gas-related illnesses, like lung cancer, kidney failure and liver disease.

Thousands of demonstrators planned to march through the main streets of Bhopal, the capital of Madhya Pradesh, today, before holding a public meeting at the abandoned Union Carbide plant.