The following pages contain this image or document

Press release on Chemicals

25 years since Bhopal chemical accident: mistakes that may not be forgotten

On 3 December 1984, a catastrophic chemical accident occurred at the Union Carbide India Ltd plant in Bhopal, India.  Due to numerous defects, errors and the failure of safety systems, a 20-to-30-tonne gas cloud of the highly toxic intermediate chemical methyl isocyanate escaped into the atmosphere. In the first week the human death toll was at least 2,500 plus 500,000 seriously injured. Even years later, there are up to 50,000 people left handicapped, and the local mortality rate is high. At the time of the accident the population of Bhopal was around 700,000, of which about 130,000 lived in the immediate vicinity of the factory. The accident is the worst industrial disaster in history. ”The price of industrial disasters such as that in Bhopal is so high that its lessons may not be forgotten. In Germany and Europe we must also review with a critical eye whether we are taking adequate safety precautions at our chemical installations”, said Jochen Flasbarth, President of the Federal Environment Agency (UBA). read more

The Umweltbundesamt

For our environment