Word: bhopal
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...world felt especially close to Bhopal last week, it may be because the world is Bhopal, a place where the occupational hazard is modern life. History teaches that there is no avoiding that hazard, and no point in trying; one only trusts that the gods in the machines will give a good deal more than they take away. But the problem is not purely mystical either. If social advancement lies in something as lethal as methyl isocyanate, it only argues for handling with the greatest care. After this tragedy is out of the news, and the lawsuits are filed...
...first sign that something was wrong came at 11 p.m. A worker at the Union Carbide pesticide plant on the outskirts of Bhopal (pop. 672,000), an industrial city 466 miles south of New Delhi, noticed that pressure was building up in a tank containing 45 tons of methyl isocyanate, a deadly chemical used to make pesticides. At 56 minutes past midnight, the substance began escaping into the air from a faulty valve. For almost an hour, the gas formed a vast, dense fog of death that drifted toward Bhopal...
...cows were milling about restlessly. He arose and went outside. Two cows were dead on the ground. A third gave out a loud groan and collapsed as Khan watched. Then the farmer's eyes began to smart painfully. He ran into the darkness. The day after, at Bhopal's Hamidia Hospital, his eyes shut tightly and tears streaming down his cheeks, Khan described his fear: "I thought it was a plague...
...people were dead in the worst industrial disaster the world has known. At least 1,000 more were expected to die from the fumes in the next two weeks; some 3,000 remained critically ill. In all, 150,000 people were treated at hospitals and clinics in Bhopal and surrounding communities. Most of the dead had succumbed because their lungs had filled with fluid, causing the equivalent of death by drowning. Others had suffered heart attacks. The disaster struck hardest at children and old people, whose lungs were either too small or too weak to withstand the poison. A number...
Rajiv Gandhi, who succeeded his mother Indira as Prime Minister after her assassination in October, broke off his campaigning for the Dec. 24 national elections to visit Bhopal. Expressing his shock and sorrow, Gandhi announced a $4 million relief fund. In addition, Arjun Singh, chief minister of Madhya Pradesh state, of which Bhopal is the capital, promised compensation of about $500 for every family that had suffered a death and $100 for every family that had a member hospitalized. President Reagan sent Gandhi a note expressing the grief shared by him and the American people...