Worst industrial chemical disaster - death toll
- Who
- Union Carbide Disaster
- What
- 3500 people
- Where
- India (Bhopal,)
- When
- 03 December 1984
Approximately 3,500 peope were killed and thousands more were left with permanent disabilities after toxic cloud of methyl isocyanate (MIC) gas enveloped a settlement around the Union Carbide Corporation's pesticide plant in Bhopal, India in the early hours of 3 December 1984.
Reports afterwards claimed that the gas leak occurred after a disgruntled employee added water to a storage tank, causing heat and pressure to build up inside until the lethal gas escaped. After protracted legal wranglings the Indian Supreme Court instructed Union Carbide Corporation to US$470 million in compensation to victims.