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At midnight on December
3 1984, the city of Bhopal, India became the site of one of the worst
industrial accidents ever. A cloud of toxic methyl isocyanate gas was
discharged through a faulty valve on the a 45-ton tank of pesticide at
a chemical plant owned by U.S.-based Union Carbide (although entirely
run by Indians) and enveloped the city.
The deadly vapour
suffocated hundreds in their beds while others fled blindly into the night,
their eyes burned white by the invisible poison, similar to potent tear
gas. Thousands more died in the days that followed, their scarred lungs
filled with fluid. Survivors who watched cattle drop dead in the fields
thought it was the plague.
Within a week, over
2,000 people had been killed and another 2,000 would eventually die. Another
200,000 were inflicted with long-term lung, kidney, liver and eye ailments.
Eventually, union Carbide, criticised for cutting corners at the plant
and letting safety standards lapse, settled all claims for $470 million,
approximately $150,000 for each of Bhopal's dead.
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