Bhopal is the site of the greatest industrial disaster in history. On the night of December 23, 1984, a dangerous chemical reaction occurred in the Union Carbide factory when a large amount of water...

Bhopal is the site of the greatest industrial disaster in history. On the night of December 23, 1984, a dangerous chemical reaction occurred in the Union Carbide factory when a large amount of water got into the Methyl Isocyanate (MIC) storage tank. The leak was first detected by workers about 11:30 p.m. when their eyes began to tear and burn. They informed their supervisor who failed to take action until it was too late. In that time, a large amount (about 40 tons) of MIC, poured out of the tank for nearly two hours and escaped into the air, spreading within 8 km downwind, over the city of nearly 900 000. Thousands of people were killed (estimates ranging as high as 4 000) in their sleep or as they fled in terror, and hundreds of thousands remain injured or affected (estimates range as high as 400 000) to this day. This poisonous gas caused death and left the survivors with lingering disability and diseases.