Bhopal returns to haunt former Union Carbide chief

Fresh calls for the extradition of former Union Carbide chief executive Warren Anderson to India from the US have brought the Bhopal industrial disaster of 1984 back to the front page.

Union Carbide's Bhopal pesticide plant spewed 40 tonnes of deadly methyl isocyanate gas on the night of 2 December 1984 in what came to be known as the Hiroshima of chemical industry. The accident killed at least 10 000 and reportedly left more than 500 000 survivors with medical problems.

Despite being in his 80s, Anderson is the most wanted person by survivors of the tragedy: 'They will not rest until he is brought to justice,' Rachna Dhingra of the Bhopal Group for Information and Action told Chemistry World.

Dhingra, one of several activists fighting for the cause of the survivors, was reacting to renewed efforts to push authorities to force Anderson to face trial in India. In 1992 an Indian Court charged Anderson with manslaughter following the incident at the Bhopal pesticide plant, a charge that carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison. Despite several summonses, Anderson has refused to appear in court.