The Bhopal disaster: 25 years on
Updated on 07 November 2009
In 1984 a gas leak from a pesticide plant caused the most catastrophic industrial disaster ever in India. Seven years after visiting the site, Jon Snow appeals on behalf of Bhopal Medical Appeal for the victims.
Twenty five years ago a catastrophic gas leak from a pesticide plant in Bhopal, India saw the beginning of the worst industrial disaster in history.
On 3 December, 40 tonnes of methyl isocyanate gas, used in the manufacture of pesticide, spewed from the plant into the surrounding areas. People living in the shanty settlements nearby suffered immediate and devastating effects which are still being felt today.
Estimates say that around 8,000-10,000 people died within the first 72 hours. Since then another 15,000 have died from their exposure to the gas and another 120,000 have chronic medical conditions that require constant healthcare.
It has come to be known as the Hiroshima of the chemical industry.
The Bhopal Medical Appeal has funded clinics that offer the only source of free health care to survivors of the 1984 gas disaster and those suffering from the ongoing water pollution.
Seven years after visiting the site of the disaster, Jon Snow released an appeal on behalf of the Bhopal Medical Appeal on BBC Radio 4 this weekend. For more information about the fund visit www.bhopal.org
