When you think of disasters, what comes to mind? Probably Chernobyl, right? Catastrophes like this become inevitable when workers in an outdated nuclear plant, managed by a corrupt administration, are forced to complete overly demanding tasks within extremely short deadlines. We all know what happened on that fateful day by heart now—most of you watching this video likely lived through it. For younger audiences, it’s impossible to remain uninformed about Chernobyl since there are at least 60 Hollywood films and around 250 books discussing the event. This doesn’t even include the countless blog posts and social media videos on the topic.
Yes, Chernobyl was undoubtedly one of the worst nuclear disasters in history. According to the International Atomic Energy Agency’s International Nuclear and Radiological Event Scale, Chernobyl ranks at level 7, the highest, alongside the Fukushima disaster. These are the only two incidents to reach this level. Yet, only 30 people died directly from the explosion at Chernobyl. Estimates of deaths due to radiation exposure vary widely, from 4,000 to 30,000. Some reports suggest higher numbers, but experts generally agree on this range. Even if the higher estimates are accurate, there are far worse disasters in human history that we never hear about.
The Bhopal Disaster
For instance, two years before Chernobyl, the United States was responsible for a much deadlier incident: the Bhopal disaster. Have you ever heard of it? Probably not. Yet, 2,259 people died immediately during the Bhopal tragedy, and the death toll rose to 3,787 in the following days. At least 574,000 people were injured in the explosion, with some estimates placing the death toll above 8,000. Despite this, the event is mentioned in only four books and a handful of documentaries or films. The American company responsible even claimed the disaster resulted from sabotage by the workers.
Today, we’ll add to the scarce content exploring this unimaginable disaster and the conspiracies surrounding it.
The Night of December 2, 1984
On the night of December 2, 1984, the town of Bhopal in Madhya Pradesh, India, was peacefully asleep. This town was home to a pesticide factory operated by Union Carbide India Limited, a subsidiary of the American company Union Carbide Corporation. The plant produced carbamate-based pesticides, a revolutionary development in the industry at the time. Unlike previously used chlorinated pesticides, carbamate left no residue, was lethal to insects but metabolized quickly in vertebrates, and didn’t accumulate in fat tissues or contaminate milk.
The Dangers of Methyl Isocyanate
To manufacture these pesticides, the factory used methyl isocyanate (MIC), a highly toxic and cost-effective compound. While invaluable for producing various pesticides like carbofuran, methomyl, and aldicarb, MIC is also extremely hazardous to humans, with no known antidote. On that fateful night, this toxic substance was about to engulf millions living near the factory.
Warning Signs Before the Disaster
The roots of the disaster trace back eight years before the incident. Two workers’ unions in Bhopal had raised concerns about leaks and contamination in the factory, but these warnings went unheeded. By 1981, a worker accidentally inhaled phosgene gas—a chemical used in MIC production—while repairing a pipe. Although he wore a mask, panic led him to remove it, exposing himself to a fatal dose of phosgene. He succumbed to the exposure within 72 hours.
Investigative Journalism: Raj Kumar Keswani
Journalist Raj Kumar Keswani began investigating these incidents, realizing the factory was a ticking time bomb. The chemicals produced were exceedingly dangerous, yet safety standards were abysmal, inspections were inadequate, and management was grossly negligent. In a local newspaper, Keswani published an article titled “Save This City”, followed by others such as “Wake Up People of Bhopal, You’re Sitting on the Edge of a Volcano”.
His warnings proved prophetic. Just four days after one article, 18 workers were hospitalized after being exposed to a chemical mixture but survived. Despite these alarms, factory management remained indifferent.
The Tragic Sequence of Events
MIC was stored in three massive tanks, each capable of holding 68,000 liters of the substance. In 1984, a nitrogen leak caused one tank to require repairs. Workers attempted to fix a blockage in one pipe by flushing it with water. Unintentionally, water entered a tank containing 42 tons of MIC, triggering a highly exothermic reaction.
As pressure and temperature in the tank surged, alarms went off. However, supervisors dismissed the readings as errors. Within hours, toxic MIC gas began escaping into the atmosphere.
A Failure of Safety Systems
Three safety mechanisms were in place to prevent such leaks: a temperature alarm, a flare tower to neutralize escaping gas, and a scrubber system. Unfortunately, the temperature alarm had been removed in 1982, the flare tower was under maintenance, and the scrubber system lacked sufficient sodium hydroxide.
The Scale of the Catastrophe
Within just 45 minutes, 30 tons of MIC had leaked into the air, with the total reaching 40 tons over two hours. As MIC is 1.5 times heavier than air, it didn’t disperse but clung to the ground, spreading into the sleeping town.
Imagine a gas 42 times more toxic than natural gas leaking into the homes of 500,000 people. By midnight, the invisible poison had begun its deadly work.
The Beginning of the Disaster
Imagine what happens when there’s a gas leak in a house. Now, envision a gas 42 times more toxic than cooking gas being released into the homes of 500,000 people living near a factory. The chemical plant in Bhopal, likened to a dormant volcano, had now erupted. By midnight, two hours into the disaster, the air around the factory became unbearable, prompting workers to sound two different sirens. One warned the factory workers, while the other was meant to alert the nearby residents. However, fearing public panic, the management silenced the external sirens within seconds.
Gas Leak and Initial Responses
By 1 a.m., residents of Kola, a neighborhood two kilometers away, began fleeing their homes due to suspicions of a gas leak. Recognizing the growing panic, the local police station immediately called the factory to inquire about the situation. The management reassured them there was nothing to worry about. When the unrest continued, the police called again at 2:10 a.m., and this time the factory claimed, “We’re not sure what’s happening; it might be an ammonia leak.” Although ammonia is hazardous, it’s far less toxic than MIC (Methyl Isocyanate). Consequently, local hospitals started treating initial patients for ammonia poisoning. Later, the factory reported the leak as phosgene gas, prompting hospitals to adjust their treatments. It took much longer for the truth to emerge—that the leak was MIC—which significantly contributed to the rising death toll. Even if they had been informed earlier, the lack of an antidote for MIC likely meant little could have been done to prevent the catastrophe.
Sirens and Public Reaction
Finally, at 2:15 a.m., sirens directed toward the city were sounded again. However, the area was unprepared for such a leak and didn’t even understand what the alarms signified. Instead of sealing their windows and doors and staying indoors, as recommended, residents opened their windows to investigate the source of the noise, unknowingly inhaling even more of the deadly gas. This seemingly minor mistake dramatically increased the number of casualties.
Effects of the Disaster
Thousands of people living within a few kilometers of the plant began suffocating and dying as their respiratory systems failed. Pulmonary edema caused widespread fatalities, and the damage extended beyond the lungs. Victims exhibited cerebral edema, renal tubular necrosis, fatty degeneration in the liver, and necrotizing effects on their gastrointestinal tracts. The number of casualties overwhelmed hospitals, filling them far beyond capacity. Around 70% of the region’s doctors were unqualified to handle such a disaster. Early estimates suggested that 200,000 children were exposed to the gas. Survivors faced long-term consequences, including cancer, blindness, and financial hardship that would persist for generations.
Mass Deaths and Their Aftermath
The death toll was so high that it was impossible to bury everyone properly. Massive trenches were dug, and hundreds of bodies were buried together. Others were cremated en masse. The environmental toll was also severe—trees in the area shed their leaves and died, thousands of animals perished, and their carcasses took weeks to clean up. A food shortage ensued as people avoided consuming local produce, and fishing was banned in the area.
The Company’s Role and Safety Measures
Amid the chaos in India, the company behind the disaster had its own response. Just one month after the failure to safely empty the MIC tanks, the remaining two tanks at the plant were finally emptied. How much safety could have been ensured in a single month? Meanwhile, Union Carbide CEO Warren Anderson flew to India with a technical team but was arrested upon arrival and placed under house arrest before being ordered to leave the country. This measure seemed more like an effort to protect Anderson from public anger than a pursuit of justice. Anderson quietly returned to the U.S., evading the outrage in India.
Lawsuits and Assistance
Legal proceedings began in both the U.S. and India. During this time, organizations like the Red Cross sent aid to the region to combat gas-related illnesses. On April 17, 1985, U.S. District Judge John Keenan ruled that Union Carbide should provide $510 million in aid to the region. The company agreed to send $5 million, provided it was not considered an admission of guilt. The Indian government rejected this offer.
Accusations and Defenses
Here’s the outrageous part: Union Carbide claimed no responsibility for the disaster, instead blaming the workers entirely. According to the company, water could not have entered the tank during routine maintenance unless an employee had deliberately connected a hose and filled it with water. Even today, visiting Bhopal.com, you’ll find a low-quality website where the company continues to shift blame onto its workers.
Suspicious Activities
Whether these claims are true or not is for independent investigations to determine. However, creating a website to blame its employees before a verdict had been reached was highly questionable. Moreover, emails leaked by Wikileaks revealed that, after Dow Chemicals acquired Union Carbide, the company hired Stratfor, a strategic intelligence firm, to monitor Bhopal activists and local journalists.
Settlements and Legal Outcomes
Eventually, in 1989, a $470 million settlement was reached between Union Carbide and the Indian government. In 1991, India sentenced CEO Anderson to 10 years for manslaughter and requested his extradition, but the U.S. refused, citing insufficient evidence. Anderson never returned to India and thus never served his sentence. The U.S. Supreme Court later dismissed the case in New York, leaving thousands of deaths and injuries unpunished.
Token Penalties
In 2010, seven senior officials from Union Carbide’s Indian subsidiary, most in their 70s, were found guilty of negligence and sentenced to two years in prison, along with a fine of about $3,000 each. However, all were quickly released on bail. Union Carbide CEO Warren Anderson died on September 29, 2014, at the age of 92. A photograph taken during a 2006 protest in Bhopal remains a striking reminder of his legacy, bearing the sign: “If you want Osama, give us Anderson.”
The Current Situation
Today, the factory remains abandoned, and chemicals from the site continue to leach into the soil and water. A 2004 inspection revealed mercury levels 500 times above safe limits in a nearby well. In 2009, a pollution monitoring lab found pesticides in groundwater three kilometers away from the factory. The same year, a BBC team tested water from a commonly used cooler, discovering carbon tetrachloride levels 1,000 times above safe limits. A photographer attempting to document the toxic leakage was hospitalized due to chemical exposure.
Lessons Learned
Despite the magnitude of this tragedy, it remains largely unknown. Industrial disasters like this are not limited to Chernobyl, and focusing solely on such events risks missing the broader lessons they offer. No nation is perfect, and every society has much to learn from its past.