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Olympics shines light on decades old Bhopal tragedy
Catch up with NBC News Clone on today's hot topic: Olympics Shines Light Decades Old Bhopal Tragedy Flna446051 - Breaking News | NBC News Clone. Our editorial team reformatted this story for clarity and speed.
In this photo taken Tuesday, March 13, 2012, survivors of the 1984 gas leak at the Union Carbide plant wait to receive medication at a clinic in Bhopal, India. The survivors of the tragedy of 27 years ago, with their lingering illnesses, sick children and dead relatives, faded away from the world's memory, even as their suffering went on. Now, though, they have seized on a new chance to force their plight in front of the world, the London Olympics. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)Rafiq Maqbool / AP
In this photo taken Tuesday, March 13, 2012, Firdous, 4, born mentally and physically disabled, a second generation victim of 1984 gas leak at the Union Carbide plant, goes through a physiotherapy session at a clinic, in Bhopal clinic in Bhopal, India. The survivors of the tragedy of 27 years ago, with their lingering illnesses, sick children and dead relatives, faded away from the world's memory, even as their suffering went on. Now, though, they have seized on a new chance to force their plight in front of the world, the London Olympics. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)Rafiq Maqbool / AP
On a cold winter night, more than 27 years ago, waves of a lethal gas escaped a chemical plant and swept over the ramshackle homes of this city's sleeping poor, killing thousands and sickening half a million people and making Bhopal synonymous with industrial disaster.
The survivors, still plagued by lingering illnesses, sick children, the holes left by dead relatives, faded away from the world's memory. Now, they have a serendipitous chance to seize perhaps the world's biggest stage to remind everyone of their existence - the London Olympics.
The images in this blog post were all taken on March 13, but were made available to msnbc.com today.
In this photo taken Tuesday, March 13, 2012, the abandoned Union Carbide plant is seen in Bhopal, India. The survivors of the tragedy of 27 years ago, with their lingering illnesses, sick children and dead relatives, faded away from the world's memory, even as their suffering went on. Now, though, they have seized on a new chance to force their plight in front of the world, the London Olympics. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)Rafiq Maqbool / AP
In this photo taken Tuesday, March 13, 2012, survivors of the 1984 gas leak at the Union Carbide plant wait to receive medication at a clinic in Bhopal, India. The survivors of the tragedy of 27 years ago, with their lingering illnesses, sick children and dead relatives, faded away from the world's memory, even as their suffering went on. Now, though, they have seized on a new chance to force their plight in front of the world, the London Olympics. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)Rafiq Maqbool / AP
Bhopal activists, hoping to emulate the Tibetans who dominated headlines ahead of the 2008 Beijing Games, accuse Olympic sponsor Dow Chemical Co. of owing them compensation for their sorrow even though the giant corporation played no role in the accident. Dow disputes that it has any obligation, saying it purchased the company responsible for the Bhopal plant only after it had settled a liability case with India's government.
Activists say that thousands of children born to parents directly exposed to the gas leak or poisoned by contaminated water are plagued by brain damage, cerebral palsy, stunted growth, cleft lips, missing palates. Cancer rates are inordinately high. Skin, vision and breathing disorders are endemic.
And for that prolonged suffering, the survivors have blamed both their own government and Dow. The government for negotiating a low compensation and then ignoring them. Dow, because 16 years after the tragedy it bought the Union Carbide Corporation, an American company that had a majority stake in the pesticide plant that leaked the lethal methyl isocyanate gas.
In this photo taken Monday, March 12, 2012, a girl walks past a mural at a shanty near the abandoned Union Carbide factory at J.P. Nagar, a neighborhood that was affected by the 1984 gas leak because of its proximity to the factory in Bhopal, India. The survivors of the tragedy of 27 years ago, with their lingering illnesses, sick children and dead relatives, faded away from the world's memory, even as their suffering went on. Now, though, they have seized on a new chance to force their plight in front of the world, the London Olympics. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)Rafiq Maqbool / AP
In this photo taken Tuesday, March 13, 2012, Deepak, 7, born mentally and physically disabled, a second generation victim of 1984 gas leak at the Union Carbide plant, waits to get his physiotherapy session at a clinic, in Bhopal clinic in Bhopal, India. The survivors of the tragedy of 27 years ago, with their lingering illnesses, sick children and dead relatives, faded away from the world's memory, even as their suffering went on. Now, though, they have seized on a new chance to force their plight in front of the world, the London Olympics. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)Rafiq Maqbool / AP
Dow, which is sponsoring a $11 million decorative wrap that will sheathe London's Olympic Stadium, has long denied responsibility for the gas disaster. Dow says the legal case was resolved when Union Carbide settled with the Indian government for $470 million in 1989, a decade before it bought the company. It says all responsibility for the factory and any lingering contamination now rests with the state of Madhya Pradesh, of which Bhopal is the capital.
