Bhopal Gas Tragedy - Documentary by Raghu Rai

Bhopal Gas Tragedy
In the early morning hours of December 3rd ,1984, in the town of Bhopal
(State of Madhya Pradesh), a tank of methyl isocyanate gas blew up in the
Union Carbide plant, due to a sudden rise in temperature. A toxic cloud
stretched over 40 sq/m and about thirty tons of gas were released into the air.
8000 people died during the night, mainly while sleeping, due to the lack of
an alarm system of any kind . Those who tried to escape from the disaster got
sicker, by exposing themselves. There was no evacuation plan, and rescue
was not adapted. It's the worst chemical disaster of the century. Soon after,
an inquiry was initiated, but it quickly met numerous obstacles, like the
concealment of evidence, and delay of blood analysis of victims so that it was
no longer valid. All of this contributes to the fact that we still don't know the
exact causes of the catastrophe today. Even after the event, 300 000 people
suffered, agonising because of the disastrous effects of the massive poisoning,
while none could say if future generations would be affected.

Raghu Rai
Raghu Rai was born in the small village of Jhhang, now part of Pakistan. He took
up photography in 1965, and the following year joined "The Statesman" newspaper
as its chief photographer. Impressed by an exhibit of his work in Paris in 1971,
Henri Cartier-Bresson nominated Rai to join Magnum Photos in 1977.
Rai left "The Statesman" in 1976 to work as picture editor for "Sunday," a weekly
news magazine published in Calcutta. He left in 1980 and worked as Picture
Editor/Visualizer/Photographer of "India Today", India’s leading news magazine,
during its formative years. From 1982 to 1991, he worked on special issues and
designs, contributing trailblazing picture essays on social, political and cultural
themes, many of which became the talking point of the magazine.
In the last 18 years, Rai has specialized in extensive coverage of India. He has
produced more than 18 books, including Raghu Rai’s Delhi, The Sikhs, Calcutta,
Khajuraho, Taj Mahal, Tibet in Exile, India, and Mother Teresa.
Rai was awarded the ‘Padmashree’ in 1971, one of India’s highest civilian awards
ever given to a photographer. In 1992, his National Geographic cover story “Human
Management of Wildlife in India” won him widespread critical acclaim for the piece.
Besides winning many national and international awards, Rai has exhibited his
works in London, Paris, New York, Hamburg, Prague, Tokyo, Zurich and Sydney.
His photo essays have appeared in many of the world’s leading magazines and
newspapers including "Time", "Life", "GEO", "The New York Times", "Sunday
Times", "Newsweek", "The Independent," and the "New Yorker".
He has served three times on the jury of the World Press Photo and twice on the
jury of UNESCO's International Photo Contest.
Raghu Rai lives in Delhi with his family and continues to be an associate of
Magnum Photos.

INDIA. Bhopal
disaster. 1984.
For Greenpeace, Sri Raghu Rai has completed an in-depth documentary
project on the chemical disaster at Bhopal in 1984, and on its ongoing effects
on the lives of gas victims. This work resulted in a book and three exhibitions
that have been touring Europe, America, India and southeast Asia since
2004, the 20th anniversary of the disaster.

This victim was identified as Leela who lived in the Chola colony near the Union Carbide factory.
INDIA. Bhopal disaster. 1984.

Burial of unknown children, victims of the Bhopal disaster.
More than 8.000 people died during the first days, cemeteries were overcrowded with no space for individual
burials.

A family suffering from serious eye and lung damage.

This elderly woman was badly injured when exposed to the poisonous gas. Everyone else in her family
died.

A man carries the body of his dead wife past the deserted Union Carbide Factory, the source of the toxic
gas that killed her the night before.

Poster of the dead and missing displayed all over Bhopal within days of the disaster.
Many bodies were never identified.

In the immediate aftermath of the disaster, thousands of sick children were brought to the state
government-run Hamida Hospital, their parents too ill to take care of them properly.

A man pastes identification labels onto dead children's foreheads before their cremation..

Mass cremation of victims held alongside the communal graves.

Survivors of the Bhopal disaster from the nearby Jayaprakash Nagar colony, stand in front of the Union
Carbide factory the day after it leaked 40 tonnes of toxic gas on the city. Their eyes and lungs have been
badly damaged.

Burial of an unknown child.

Foetuses which were aborted by pregnant women while escaping from the gas, were preserved by Dr.
Satpathy, a forensic expert at the State Government's Hamida Hospital, to establish the exact cause of
death. 2001.

Nanko, now 76 years old, was independent and able to provide for his family. Since the disaster he has
become a beggar. 2001.

Skulls discarded after research at the Hamida Hospital. Medical experts believe that the toxic gas
inhaled by the people of Bhopal may have affected the brain.

Bhopal survivors protest in New Delhi, to extradite Warren Anderson, former chief executive of Union
Carbide. Anderson is evading justice in the United States and is wanted by Interpol for crimes in Bhopal.
2001.

Gangaram had come to Bhopal to get treatment for leprosy at the Hamida Hospital. He was cured when
the toxic gas hit the city. He is now, again, dependent on others for survival. 2001.

Union Carbide abandonned its factory after the disaster, leaving hundreds of tonnes of toxic waste on the
site. Until mid 2001 the factory ground was inaccessible. Now local children play in the area which
remains dangerously contaminated. 2002.

Muhammed AZIZ returns to the cemetery where 4.000 people were buried in the first days of the 1984
disaster.

Bhopal. 2002. These women have all lost their husbands in the Bhopal tragedy. They now live in one-
room tenements in a seperate widows' colony in the outskirts of the city, built by the state government.

Mehboob BI has two daughters and two sons. Her husband was a fitter, on duty the night of the disaster,
at the Union Carbide plant. He died of his injuries after 15 years of struggle. The family has no resources
to fight the legal battle for compensation.

Mohammed ARIF has pulmonary fibrosis due to the toxic gas, a condition that can only be cured by
replacing the lungs.

Bhopal. 2002. Hasan ALI, 70 years old, is a victim of the gas disaster. He suffers from multiple disorders.
His seven grown-up daughters say that their education and marriages have suffered heavily from their
father's illness.

Bhopal. December 2, 1984, during routine maintenance operations in the Union Carbide plant at Bhopal,
a large quantity of water entered one of the storage tanks triggering a runaway reaction that resulted in
the deaths of more than 16,000 people and the maiming of more than 500,000 others. Here, Gas victims
supported by Jabbar, demonstrated at the railway station. 2004.

Bhopal Gas Tragedy - Documentary by Raghu Rai

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Bhopal Gas Tragedy - Documentary by Raghu Rai