At least 410 people were killed and thousands admitted to hospitals yesterday after poisonous gas escaped from a pesticides factor in the central Indian town of Bhopal. Doctors expected the final toll to exceed 600.
Witnesses said that a densely populated area of about 15 square miles was turned into "one vast gas chamber". The leakage from the Union Carbide Factory, owned by a US multi-national, began soon after midnight and was brought under control about one-and-a-half hours later.
The gas, which escaped from an underground storage tank, was identified by the Indian managing director, Mr V.P. Gokhale, as methyl isocyanate. The Press Trust of India news agency quoted health officials as saying 335 deaths had been reported at Bhopal's three hospitals, and more victims were feared undiscovered in their homes.
Many people, unconscious and frothing at the mouth, were still being brought to the hospital last night. Hundreds of dead dogs, cats, cows, buffaloes, and birds littered the streets.
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