In pictures: 40 years since world's deadliest gas leak killed thousands in India

The 1984 gas leak in India's Bhopal city killed around 3,500 people and impacted thousands of others. Activists say its ill-effects continue to impact lives in Bhopal. — Image caption,
A gas leak in Bhopal city in 1984 killed thousands and poisoned about half-a-million people

2 December 2024

Forty years ago, an Indian city became the site of one of the world's worst industrial disasters.

On the night of 2 December, 1984, a poisonous gas leaked from Union Carbide India's pesticide plant in Bhopal, enveloping the central Indian city in a deadly fog which killed thousands and poisoned about half-a-million people.

According to government estimates, around 3,500 people died within days of the gas leak and more than 15,000 in the years since. But activists say that the death toll is much higher, and that victims continue to suffer from the side-effects of being poisoned.

In 2010, an Indian court convicted seven former managers at the plant, handing down minor fines and brief prison sentences. But many victims and campaigners say that justice has still not been served, given the magnitude of the tragedy.

Union Carbide was a US company which Dow Chemicals bought in 1999.

Warning: This story contains details and photos that some readers may find distressing.

A general view of the Union Carbide plant here is shown. A gas leakage from this pesticide plant caused the death of hundreds of people. Thousands more were evacuated from their homes.(Photo by Alain Nogues/Sygma/Sygma via Getty Images)

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The Union Carbide factory - the site of the poisonous gas leak

BHOPAL, INDIA DECEMBER 4: (FILE PHOTO) Victims of Bhopal gas tragedy rest on a roadside on December 4, 1984 in Bhopal, India on December 4, 1984 in Bhopal, India. On the night of Dec 2-3, 1984 poisonous gas leaked from Union Carbide pesticide plant killing between 25,000 to 35,000 people and afflicting another 120,000-150,000 with chronic diseases. Warren Anderson, the former CEO of Union Carbide Corp, has died at 92 after living for 30 years under the shadow of the 1984 Bhopal gas tragedy that killed thousands. (Photo by Hindustan Times via Getty Images)

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People exposed to the poisonous gas rest on a roadside on 4 December, 1984 in Bhopal

A blinded victim of the Bhopal tragedy receives first aid from doctors at Bhopal's hospital on December 04, 1984 after a poison gas leak from the Union Carbide factory killed 20000 persons and injured around 300000. The tragedy occurred when a storage tank at a pesticide plant run by Union Carbide exploded and poured cyanide gas into the air, immediately killing more than 3,500 slum dwellers. (Photo by BEDI / AFP FILES / AFP) (Photo by BEDI/AFP FILES/AFP via Getty Images)

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A doctor treats a blinded victim in the immediate aftermath of the gas leak

Eleven days after a cloud from the Union Carbide plant carrying methyl isocyanate gas seriously injured 20,000 people and killed 3000, the resumption of work has been announced, provoking a new exodus. A total of 200,000 persons have fled Bhopal (which had 800,000 inhabitants). The train station is permanently full as entire families leave. (Photo by Alain Nogues/Sygma/Sygma via Getty Images)

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The gas leak triggered an exodus as people rushed to leave Bhopal in trains and buses

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People read about the tragedy in newspapers as it made headlines for days

BHOPAL, INDIA: Sameer Hasan, 16 years old, with his mother Wahida Bee at home. Sameer was born to parents contaminated by a carcinogenic and mutagenic water supply. This year marks the 31st anniversary of the 1984 Union Carbide gas tragedy that killed thousands of citizens of Bhopal within 72 hours and has gone on to claim thousands more as a result of the polluted environment. (Photo by Giles Clarke/Getty Images)

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Victims and campaigners have alleged that many children were born with severe disabilities after the gas leak

TOPSHOT - A survivor lights a candle 03 December 2002 infront of portraits of some of the thousands killed by the Union Carbide gas leak 18 years ago in Bhopal. Thousands were killed on the night of 02-03 December 1984 when cyanide gas escaped from the factory. AFP PHOTO (Photo by AFP) (Photo by -/AFP via Getty Images)

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A survivor lights a candle in 2002 in front of portraits of some of the thousands killed by the gas leak

NEW DELHI, INDIA - MAY 5, 2008: Policemen arrest Bhopal gas tragedy victims from outside Indian Prime Minister's house, on May 5, 2008 in New Delhi, India. More than 40 children of Bhopal gas tragedy victim along with their parents demonstrated outside prime minister house demanding economic and medical rehabilitation, environmental clean-up and provision of clean drinking water. Bhopal Gas leak disaster killed at least 10,000 people and affected some 550,000 others in the central Indian city of Bhopal in December 1984. (Photo by Sonu Mehta/Hindustan Times via Getty Images)

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In 2008, more than 40 children of victims of the Bhopal gas tragedy protested outside the prime minister's house in capital Delhi, demanding economic and medical rehabilitation

BHOPAL, INDIA - SEPTEMBER 3, 2009: Rusting tanks inside the now derelict Union Carbide factory compound. These tanks used to store methyl isocyanide, the toxic chemical that leaked on December 23, 1984 killing at least 5,000 people in the following 72 hours and many thousands more subsequently. (Photo by Satish Bate/Hindustan Times via Getty Images)

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A photo of the derelict Union Carbide factory compound taken in 2009.

BHOPAL, INDIA - DECEMBER 2: 'Make In India but Remember Bhopal' written on the Union Carbide plant wall put up by gas activists reminding the government about the Bhopal gas disaster in the backdrop of the government's policy of inviting MNCs to set up production units in India, on the eve of 31st anniversary of Bhopal Gas tragedy on December 2, 2015 in Bhopal, India. Over 3,000 people were believed to have died in the Bhopal gas leak tragedy that took place on the night of December 2-3, 1984. The protesters wanted the government to revise the number of deaths and injuries it is seeking compensation from Union Carbide Corporation (UCC) - the US-based owner of Union Carbide India (UCIL) at the time of the accident - and Dow Chemical Company, which acquired UCC in 2001. (Photo by Praveen Bajpai/Hindustan Times via Getty Images)

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A 2015 photo shows a wall of the Union Carbide factory covered with graffiti asking people to never forget the horror that Bhopal witnessed

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