On the night of 2-3 December 1984, a Union Carbide chemical facility at Bhopal leaked over 27 tons of the highly toxic gas methyl isocyanate, poisoning tens of thousands of people in the middle of the night, most of whom were sleeping in their homes nearby.

Written by Madhumita Dutta. Narration by Dr. Nicholas B.Breyfogle. Video production by Hannah Keller, Dr. Nicholas B. Breyfogle, and Laura Seeger. A textual version of this video is available at https://origins.osu.edu/read/bhopal-chemical-gas-disaster.

This is a production of Origins: Current Events inHistorical Perspective at the Goldberg Center in the Department of History at The Ohio State University and the Department of History at Miami University. Be sure to subscribe to our channel to receive updates about our videos and podcasts. For more information about Origins: Current Events in Historical Perspective, please visit origins.osu.edu.

Learn More:

“40 Years of Confronting Corporate Crime: Commemorating the 40th Anniversary of the Bhopal Gas Disaster,”  https://www.bhopal.net/40th/ 

“Remembering Bhopal: The World's Worst Industrial Disaster,” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Aa2DMsXzEM 

“The BhopalMedical Appeal,” https://www.bhopal.org/continuing-disaster/the-bhopal-gas-disaster/union-carbides-disaster/basic-facts-figures-numbers-of-dead-and-injured-bhopal-disaster/

“Bhopal gas leak: Battling water woes in land of tragedy,”

https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/39-years-after-the-bhopal-gas-tragedy-water-contamination-worries-survivors/article67598837.ece

Bhopal Plant Disaster. Appendix A: Chronology  

1969-1979: Union Carbide Enters Bhopal

 https://www.bhopal.net/what-happened/setting-the-stage-for-tragedy-1969-1984/1969-1979-union-carbide-enters-bhopal/