A chronicle of the medical disaster in newspapers:
1984
MORE DEATHS LIKELY IN BHOPAL: US EXPERTS from the Times of India 6/12/84. American toxicology experts believe that many more people in Bhopal may die of the secondary effects of the poisonous gas MIC. These experts say that the people who have survived so far could die as a result of ordinary respiratory infection because their lung tissues are damaged by the gas.
PEOPLE EXPOSED TO MIC MAY SUFFER NEUROLOGICAL DISORDERS from the Patriot 9/12/84. The report is about the possibility of behavioral disorders and chronic nervous disease. According to neurotoxicologists people who were exposed to the poisonous MIC gas might suffer from neurological disorders.
GAS VICTIMS HAVING BREATHING TROUBLE, BURNING FEELING IN EYES from the Patriot 12/12/84. General weakness, recurrent respiratory and breathing trouble, and a burning sensation in the eyes, were the most common complaints of the people who had been discharged from hospitals. At Hamidia Hospital there was no oxygen because of the rush of patients and people were asked to wash their eyes and return home.
RELIEF WORK INADEQUATE from Economic Times 13/12/84. This report claims that the state is not able to cope with the problems the gas leak has created. There are complaints about lack of medicine and non-attendance by doctors. The affected people are using various methods to voice their resentment and protesting the non-availability of medical assistance. The reporter goes into the affected neighborhoods where almost everybody is coughing constantly, having pain and irritation in chest and experiencing lack of vision. These people are in no condition to get out of bed and are hardly eating anything. Young men are trying to get the attention of the higher authorities to get necessary and adequate medical help. |
