Bhopal disaster ‘continues to kill people even today’, leading activists warn

The Bhopal gas tragedy, which happened over 40 years ago, continues to kill people even today. That’s the message brought to France this week by two leading activists who continue to push for justice. The initial leak, which is still considered the world’s worst industrial accident, killed over 3,500 people within days in the central Indian city of Bhopal in December 1984, after they breathed in poisonous gas leaked from a Union Carbide pesticide factory. According to government estimates, more than 15,000 people have died in the years since, although activists say the figures are in reality far higher. In Perspective, we spoke to Rachna Dhingra, coordinator of the International Campaign for Justice in Bhopal; and Satinath Sarangi, founder of the Bhopal Group for Information and Action.