[jessicamshannon]

The Bhopal disaster, one of the world's worst industrial catastrophes, occurred on the night of December 2-3, 1984, at the Union Carbide India Limited (UCIL) pesticide plant in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, India. A highly toxic cloud of methyl isocyanate (MIC) gas enveloped the city, leading to immediate and long-term health consequences for the residents of Bhopal.

Over 500,000 people were exposed to the toxic gas, with immediate effects including coughing, severe eye irritation, and a feeling of suffocation. Official immediate death tolls varied, but at least 2,000 people died in the immediate aftermath. Long-term health effects, still being addressed today, include chronic respiratory conditions, eye problems, and skin diseases. The total number of deaths associated with the disaster is estimated to be around 16,000, though some estimates suggest this number could be significantly higher.

The tragedy was attributed to poor maintenance and safety standards at the UCIL plant. Investigations revealed that substandard operating and safety procedures, along with a lack of adequate emergency response plans, significantly contributed to the magnitude of the disaster. This incident led to a re-evaluation of safety standards and procedures in chemical plants worldwide and heightened awareness of the need for stringent environmental and safety regulations.

Union Carbide Corporation (UCC), the parent company of UCIL, faced severe criticism and legal action following the disaster. In 1989, UCC agreed to a settlement of $470 million to the Indian government, which was tasked with disbursing the funds to victims.

[REVZZYBAN]

FYI, Union Carbide Corp was the owner/operator of this plant. DOW Chemical was the parent company. After the tragedy, Union Carbide dumped/sold off part of their holdings to offset financial responsibilities. First Brands purchased some of these holdings. Clorox Corp eventually bought out First Brands. Glad trash bags is a subsidiary of Clorox. Union Carbide never did substantially compensate the victims or their surviving families. That's being a chicken shit, imo.

[ouagadougou]

Union Carbide...killed more Indians than Custer...

[Ninjavandal]

Well sure. But that utterly avoidable "accident" was all for a very good cause: Union Carbide's profit margins.

[THELORDABORTION]

the picture of the kid buried with only his face showing will haunt my dreams

[Bronte1068]

This post needs a child warning

[Mr_Shlaapu]

Originally Posted by ouagadougou ↗

Union Carbide...killed more Indians than Custer...

Fuck yeah it did.

[RUTHIE7]

OMG!

THIS MADE ME CRY!!

It also made me FUCKING ANGRY!

As this was totally avoidable!!!

Wtaf is going on. Does noone get taught BASIC 'health and safety practices' in these countries!?



I hope its improved since then!

[WhatHaveIBecome]

Notice the first picture of the old man with the white hair and beard, with his eyes watering and closed.

Now notice that in the picture of the lined photo of corpses just a few images down contains that same old man, who must have ultimately died.

Scary.

[Xion]

There's a pretty good documentary on YouTube about this. Might have been a seconds from disaster offshoot, idr. But there were about a dozen different things that culminated into a tragedy. Some even being the weather. But it all boiled down to negligence, untested emergency systems, and an asinine cleaning routine.