At least 3,787 people were killed and more than five lakh were injured after a toxic gas leaked from the pesticide factory in the city on the night of December 2-3, 1984.

Dr DK Satpathy, former head of the forensic science department at Bhopal’s Gandhi Medical College, said at an event held by gas tragedy survivor organizations on Saturday that he performed 875 autopsies on the first day of the disaster and witnessed 18,000 autopsies the next. five years.

Sathpathy claimed that Union Carbide had denied questions about the effects of toxic gases on the unborn children of female survivors, saying that the effects would not cross the placental barrier in the womb in any condition.

He said blood samples from pregnant women who died in the tragedy were examined, and it was found that 50 percent of the toxic substances found in the mother were also found in the child in her womb.

Children born to surviving mothers had the toxic substances in their system, and this affected the health of the next generation, Sathpathy argued, questioning why research on this was stopped.

Such effects will continue for generations, he said.

Satpathy said it was said that MIC gas leaked from the Union Carbide factory, and when it came into contact with water, thousands of gases were formed, some of which caused cancer, blood pressure and liver damage.

Rachna Dhingra of the Bhopal Group for Information and Action said that Satpathy, who performed most of the post-mortems, and other emergency workers in the 1984 disaster, including the senior emergency room doctors and people involved in mass burials, spoke about their experiences during the incident.

Rashida Bee, president of Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Stationery Karmchari Sangh, a poster exhibition covering all aspects of the disaster will be held till December 4 to mark the 40th anniversary of the tragedy.

A commemorative rally will be organized, focusing on global corporate crimes such as industrial pollution and climate change, she said. PTI