An urgent newspaper column in 1982 carried a stark warning for the residents of Bhopal, India. Journalist Raj Keswani wrote, "Wake up, you are on the edge of a volcano." His words were a desperate plea following the preventable death of a worker, Ashraf Khan, at the local Union Carbide plant. Tragically, his prediction was ignored, and two years later, one of the world's most catastrophic industrial disasters unfolded.
The Night The Gas Fell
In the early hours of December 3, 1984, a series of critical failures occurred at the US-owned pesticide factory. A large amount of water entered a storage tank, triggering a deadly thermal reaction with 40 tonnes of methyl isocyanate. Internal alarms sounded, warning plant managers of the imminent danger. Astonishingly, they dismissed the alerts as false and decided to address the issue after their scheduled tea break at 12.15am.
By the time they returned at 12.40am, it was too late. Immense pressure had built up, and a highly toxic gas began leaking from the facility. Southeasterly winds carried the poisonous cloud directly into the densely populated slums of Bhopal.
A City in Chaos: The Immediate Aftermath
The gas, a colourless compound denser than air, spread like a fog, clinging to the ground. This meant women and children, due to their shorter stature, inhaled the highest concentrations and suffered disproportionately. Experts estimate that over 200,000 children and 3,000 pregnant women were affected, with many women suffering immediate miscarriages.
The first hours were devastating. High exposure killed 3,500 people instantly. The deaths were gruesome, with victims experiencing lung failure, kidney necrosis, and the complete degeneration of their liver and intestines—effectively, their organs rotted inside their bodies.
At 12.50am, a public siren briefly sounded, but factory workers, following a company policy for "inconsequential leaks," swiftly turned it off to avoid causing panic. When police called to inquire, they were told, "Everything is OK," even as plant personnel evacuated. The sirens were not reactivated until around 2am, by which time thousands were already suffering the effects of the gas.
As people fled in terror, the physical exertion caused them to inhale more of the toxic gas, leading to more deaths. Many others never woke up. By morning, the streets were littered with the corpses of people and animals. Local medical services, completely overwhelmed and unfamiliar with the chemical, struggled to cope. Within the first 48 hours, the death toll soared to an estimated 10,000.
The Long Fight for Justice
In the disaster's wake, Warren Anderson, the chairman of Union Carbide Corporation (UCC), was arrested in India and charged with manslaughter. However, he was allowed to return to the United States, which subsequently refused all Indian requests for his extradition.
For decades, survivors campaigned for justice while the world's attention shifted to other disasters like Chernobyl. Union Carbide attempted to settle out of court, and in 1989, a settlement of around £350 million (just under £1 billion today) was reached. The Indian government had initially estimated damages at more than four times that amount.
Throughout the 2000s, US courts repeatedly ruled that UCC was not responsible, citing the technicality that the Bhopal plant was operated by a separate subsidiary. In 2010, seven former Indian employees of the plant were convicted of death by negligence, the first convictions related to the disaster. Warren Anderson died in 2014 at the age of 92 in a Florida nursing home, having never faced prosecution.
The tragedy is far from over. Studies indicate that between 15 and 20 people in India still die each year from complications linked to the gas exposure. Survivors continue to report severe health issues, including blindness, cancer, tuberculosis, and persistent respiratory illnesses. To this day, Bhopal has the highest rate of uterus cancer in the country. Over forty years on, the fight for adequate compensation and corporate accountability continues.
