A Brief History of: The Bhopal Gas Tragedy (Short Documentary)

#Bhopal #unioncarbide #india #industrialaccident
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In this video we will look into the worlds worst industrial accident, the tragic MIC gas release at Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, India in 1984. The event has been compared to India's own Chernobyl.
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Sources:
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5. archive.boston....

[@PlainlyDifficult]

Union Carbide Strikes again: kzbin.info/www/bejne/fpKylGt8nbKXjcU

[@MachineWashableKatie]

Abolish union carbide???

[@WanderingYankee]

@@MachineWashableKatie Union Carbide was bought by Dow Chemical in 2001.

[@jeffbrown-hill7739]

@@WanderingYankee Oh, really? I've heard of them...

[@BA-gn3qb]

Just like Monsanto was bought by Bayer. And, still making the same dangerous products.

[@MachineWashableKatie]

@@deankane6802 Thank you for your insight

[@johnrockett5155]

"The gauge is wrong" Everyone in charge of a malfunctioning plant of any kind

[@VoidHalo]

Denial is a powerful thing...

[@jwenting]

given that it's the more likely explanation than the other one most of the time, it's a reasonable assumption to make. But check the working of the gauge ASAP to make sure your assumption is correct...

[@BrettonFerguson]

Only the ones we hear about. We never hear about the people who believe the gauges because things don't explode.

[@kermitderfrosch1704]

"You didn't see a cloud of MIC, Because it's not there!" -Union Carbide Shift Manager probably

[@danem.9402]

Kermit der Frosch Tell me... how does a MIC manufacturing plant explode!?

[@PlainlyDifficult]

If this video does well I will do more industrial disasters. Let me know in the comments if you’d like that!

[@GalileoAV]

I for one would. The nuclear incidents are interesting but there's a lot less coverage on notable industrial disasters.

[@michaelrincon3104]

Absolutely! Agree with others that these incidents don't receive enough coverage. Love both types of videos, industrial incidents are just as interesting as nuclear.

[@nooblangpoo]

Industrial and other large scale disasters would do. While not industrial, still large scale, MV Doña Paz would do. It's a harrowing maritime incident from my country.

[@ruffshayv4363]

Centralia? Hot topic like......

[@d.shaffer8782]

All for more industrial disasters. If you want one on the more humorous end, look up the Lake Peigneur incident at some point.

[@chunkblaster]

Yeah when you hit "slums surrounding a pesticide plant" I knew it was gona get bad

[@tonymontana897]

Slum people are expendable. That's why. Life is very cheap in India.

[@oneofmany1087]

who killed more Indians than Custer?

[@mr.waffentrager4400]

people live near industrial area ...nothing wrong . if the plant was safe they cant afford to travel from a far to the industrial area to work

[@N00N01]

Thats actually just suicide staying in those slums EXACTLY

[@mr.waffentrager4400]

@@N00N01 and you will not say anything to the American company so have bought land around should(where is cheapest)

[@berryberrykixx]

There are 2 things that you left out that I feel should have been part of this video. The first is that the first group of people who died within the town was a wedding procession. Anybody who knows anything about Hindi wedding ceremonies know that they are massive events with large groups of people and animals. The other thing you should have mentioned was that the doctor at the hospital in Bophal called multiple people that night, including management amd government workers, trying to find out what chemical had been released so he could treat people properly, and everyone told him that they either did not know or it was a chemical that wasn't inherently dangerous. Multiple people died in his hospital because Union Carbide kept it a secret that they were storing MIC onsite.

[@joeangell5652]

@Chelsea Older - Very interesting details. Heading down the rabbit hole now. Thanks & have a great one.

[@b-chroniumproductions3177]

This is why companies like Union Carbide shouldn't exist, or should at least be strictly regulated by competent (read: not India) governments

[@pangalactictech6522]

@@b-chroniumproductions3177 Clearly the invisible hand of the free market is totally sufficient to let them regulate themselves. If people don't want to die from chemical poisioning, they just wont buy Union Carbide Chemicals.

[@neuralmute]

@@pangalactictech6522 10/10 for snark.

[@berryberrykixx]

EDITED TO ADD CLARIFICATION: The plant manager had told the staff at Hamadia Hospital that the leak was 1st, ammonia, and 2nd, Phosgene. So the hospital began treating everyone for those two gasses, which all failed. After a few hours, someone called the hospital saying is was MIC, and hung up. But the hospital and staff had no idea what MIC was.

[@keesdevries9484]

It's weird how well known Chernobyl is yet few know about Bhopal.

[@KATCompositions]

That's geography. If this disaster was in Europe as opposed to a slum district in India we'd surely be talking about this on the same level as Chernobyl

[@mrslinkydragon9910]

I would say bhopal is worse. More people directly affected, at least with pyriat most of the people left and relocated

[@eilliwwasniahc]

I remember this being a huge news story in '84.

[@abandonedchannel281]

Bhopal sounds like a horror story, Chernobyl was also a nuclear incident during the Cold War.

[@md4luckycharms]

I mean Chernobyl damn near brought down the USSR and had the world shitting it's collective pants. Chernobyl effected all of Europe and directly effected at least half a million people.

[@GaitaPonto]

If only human greed and stupidity could be used to generate energy...

[@jackfanning7952]

It is. It is called nuclear energy.

[@GaitaPonto]

@@jackfanning7952 oh c'mon...don't be a pussy SJW...nuclear energy is absolutely safe and clean when compared to other energy sources (and it killed less people in accidents too).

[@tamlandipper29]

Isn't that basically the post industrial economy?

[@rhysh6026]

Issue being said power plant would itself malfunction.

[@AllHailSp00nRiver]

Come on, that would not be allowed to exist because it isn't profitable, because supply so vastly outstrips demand.

[@DanishAli-gw9ke]

Born and raised in Bhopal. I have witnessed generations suffering the aftermath of the tragedy, people being born with deformities and incurable diseases. Luckily my family was farther from away from the region with maximum impact and used to sleep on the floor in 1983, where the gas had minimal density, and I was born 10 years after it. For deeper understanding do read or watch "five past midnight in Bhopal"

[@tormodhag6824]

The criminal neglience in this case makes my gut turn inside out. Such utterly disrespect to the people of bhopal. The casualties was on a svale which you would assosiete with war, yet it was caused by a singular tank of mic which was unsafe because of cost cutting

[@jondobbs69]

I know this comment is a couple years old, but the part about sleeping on the floor... This particular chemical is roughly 1.5 times heavier than air. Shouldn't it have been MORE dangerous to be on the floor when the chemical was spreading?

[@superfungus947]

Methyl isocyanate is denser than air though? I’m elated to you’re OK, but wouldn’t the floor be the worst place to be?

[@animeB0y01]

I am sorry this happened to your town and your people. If i could visit today to pay respects to your ancestors I would do so.

[@LLS710]

We heard all about this in America and that was long before the internet was around.

[@Spencer481]

"The holding tank is at 55psi, not great, not Terrible"

[@neuralmute]

Your eyes aren't burning, you're delusional! Get to the infirmary!

[@OhNotThat]

"YOU DIDN'T SEE THE BLOWN VALVES ON THE ROOF BECAUSE THEY'RE NOT THERE!!!"

[@nanupin8467]

He is not dying. He is in "shock" Can you tell me how a MIC tank can exploit? Of course you cant!!! Are you stupid?

[@Felix-ru7qj]

The Chernobyl show was good.

[@annegrey3780]

is that a Chernobyl reference?

[@kamaradekaroma4598]

"Something had gone wrong somewhere. Everything is normal now."

[@itachi2011100]

this is significantly more honest communication than some PR speak bs we see nowadays.

[@DaWrecka]

Because that's totally going to reassure people. "We don't know how and we don't know where, but it's totally under control now. Honest."

[@ginomanshit2365]

proceeds to throw dead bodies in river

[@sammygirlie345]

Then they dump the dead into the river

[@stevenbanaan]

''between 3 and 16.000'' i bet it's safe to say that indead at least 3 people have passed away yes

[@tankninja1]

3.6 deaths, not great, not terrible.

[@marciaosullivan3200]

Coming from stalin

[@stevenbanaan]

@@marciaosullivan3200 gulag

[@davidstockton9802]

Vonderberg

[@infiltr80r]

3000 to 16000

[@petero.7487]

I remember reading about this accident, and what I found so amazing was that nearly every single safety feature designed to prevent an uncontrolled MIC release had either been improperly maintained, dismantled/rendered useless, or was simply inadequate for the job.

[@danconser6709]

DITTO!!! I can see why NO ONE wanted to be associated with this MESS! And I feel horrible for the people who lived there.

[@siralexander3359]

Or you know, the guy that pumped all the water into the mic tank

[@siralexander3359]

Or you know, the guy that pumped all the water into the mic tank

[@petero.7487]

@@siralexander3359 Actually, you're wrong. The MIC tank should have been shielded from water at all times. 1. The plant was designed to keep water separate from the MIC, but somebody rigged a jumper line which connected them 2. Slip blinds can be inserted into lengths of pipes to block the path of fluid (i.e. into the MIC tank). Because all sorts of fluids traveled through the lines and the heat (it was India), there was a lack of willingness to don protective gear and install them. 3. The nitrogen inerting system if under pressure was to keep liquid from easily making it into tank, except it failed. 4. The tanks were supposed to be cooled by Freon. All the gauges were based on the presumption that the tanks would be. It may/may not have been able to mitigate the full brunt of the exothermic action since the fluid was warmer than it would have been under cooling. The freon was removed and eventually the refrigeration system was dismantled. The lack of cooling meant the readings were unreliable and often off the charts. 5. The presence of the three MIC tanks were so that one tank would be half full, and the others would be able to handle the remainder. The tank which blew out was filled past the limit it was supposed to be filled, and the others were loaded to some extent too, and beyond what was intended.

[@siralexander3359]

@@petero.7487 A disgruntled employee literally decoupled a gauge to read MIC pressure and pumped water in through the port. You should really dig a bit deeper.

[@_lime.]

Policeman 1: "Yo, look at all these people who died from a toxic leek and thus are themselves toxic. What should we do with their bodies?" Policeman 2: "Just dump the in the river"

[@Keckegenkai]

Ever seen the Ganges?

[@gl1500ctv]

@@Keckegenkai Agreed, it's almost a religion unto itself in India. They believe the river will cure and heal, so they bathe in it. Oh well, whatever works for them.

[@weaponofmassconstruction1940]

Toxic leek? 🥒☣️

[@markshort9098]

@@gl1500ctv you forgot to mention all the toxic waste that gets dumped in it and all the partly burned corpses floating around and dead anmials and that they drink it's holy water thinking nothing bad can be in it

[@gl1500ctv]

@@markshort9098 A quick cultural story: When I was working for a big tech firm, I met two colleagues from India at a class in Colorado. At lunch break they chose a cheeseburger and then argued with me that it's made of "cheese" and not beef. I explained their mistake and they quickly thanked me and switched to a slice of cheese pizza. :)

[@praxtron]

Fun fact: kutcha means raw. Houses are literally built with scrap building materials. Pucka means solid which means houses are made from concrete

[@stevenclark2188]

So the English equivalent would be shanty then.

[@akminator130]

@@stevenclark2188 yup

[@nayyarrashid4661]

Kutcha means weak made out of mud...

[@nathanlong8295]

Well that's not good. How will they keep out Intruders?

[@praxtron]

@@nayyarrashid4661 it is also used for the word mud. But it really does mean raw. You can say that a side walk is kutcha(mud) , food is kutcha (uncooked) and various other examples

[@ksiddiqui8]

My mom was in the city when that happened, she woke up at night but my grandma told her to just cover her face with the thick blanket that she was using... They survived unlike the people who tried to run away making the gas enter their lungs even more. The next day when my dad (who lived in a small town nearby at the time) came to Bhopal to check on my uncle who was also living in the city at the time (who also survived) everyone was moving out of the city and nobody agreed to go anywhere near where my uncle lived, they just wanted to run away as far as possible... Then there was a false alarm about the gas being leaked again, causing a panic. Following that were announcements of the second leakage being fake... There was so much traffic that it was crazy, especially considering how low the population was compared to what it is today...

[@eyecamd]

If this is inappropriate, ignore me- did your uncle survive?

[@StainsStainsStains]

@@eyecamd I guess he didnt live lol

[@eyecamd]

@@StainsStainsStains it says in the comment that he survives so I'm just illiterate lol

[@StainsStainsStains]

@@eyecamd oh. thats too bad.

[@gregparrott]

I remember hearing about this when it happened. To my knowledge, this was and still remains the worlds worst industrial accident. Union Carbide was massively at fault.

[@valnar300]

Turns out Union Carbide really knows how to drop the MIC

[@ancientmonkey5327]

That joke was so *Fabrice*ted

[@chrisakaschulbus4903]

@@ancientmonkey5327 now you ruined it, what is wrong with you? get out of my sight

[@lukesmith8896]

I though you said "Uncle Carbide"

[@gorillaau]

@@lukesmith8896 Union Carbine, could make a great name for a firearm manufacturer.

[@nokiot9]

My mom says I’m not allowed to play with you anymore

[@iansaviet600]

Union Carbide sounds like an evil mega corp just from the name. Right up there with Omnicorp and Weyland Untani

[@alvinoflys7504]

Weyland-*Yutani * corp

[@royrush5374]

Don't forget Globochem

[@comingupooo]

Don't forget Umbrella Corp.

[@nayyarrashid4661]

What about Monsonto the Father of them all

[@wtfsamusidk7574]

Skynet

[@henryatkinson1479]

>slums surrounding pesticide plant Oh boy

[@asharamnagwanshi1965]

now bhopal is way developed like other cities. 😊

[@whosagoodgirl5846]

@@asharamnagwanshi1965 what do you mean? It was obviously a slum, I think everyone should agree with that. No rich people would live near industry

[@anandgeorge6645]

@@whosagoodgirl5846 I think what they meant was that todays Bhopal is better than the Bhopal during the disaster, that's all

[@aadarsh_1303x]

@@whosagoodgirl5846 He said now?

[@whosagoodgirl5846]

@@aadarsh_1303x oh shit sorry

[@johnlocke4251]

We truly need to learn from our history to not repeat the same mistakes, Unfortunately this whole tragedy has been minimized to a paragraph or so in our text books, we aren't really taught the details and what lead to it. As an Indian I thank you for making such a detailed and accurate video about this.

[@johnlocke4251]

@Lazys The Dank Engineer from what I can make out, it says " wear head protection"

[@johnlocke4251]

@Lazys The Dank Engineer Most welcome 😊

[@sohamacharya171]

@Lazys The Dank Engineer it literally means "head protection is good protection". It asks you to protect your head.

[@fort809]

It’s a good example of why monkeys shouldn’t be allowed to play with chemicals

[@kittykittybangbang9367]

@@johnlocke4251 Coming here after the Ohio train derailment, oof companies can't be trusted

[@phillipmele8533]

“Could a disaster like this happen again?” I dunno, do industrial manufacturers still value profit to such a degree that they will disregard safety measures? Also, how’s the bears crapping in the woods index looking?

[@coffee4682]

It’s so stupid that they want so much money that they don’t know what to do with it. Cutting costs in exchange for a few extra bucks while risking the safety of tons of people is dumb

[@Mr_T_Badger]

"Do NOT store radioactive or toxic materials in and around crew quarters." Safety regulations are written in blood after all. If a company thinks it can save money by doing something as radically stupid as storing toxic materials in the bloody crew quarters, they'll do it.

[@anujith99]

This won't happen in a western world due to regulations . That's why multi national corporations choses places with low regurgitations and cheap labour. This is could have been entirely avoided if they had basic human decency and compassion.

[@Mr_T_Badger]

@@anujith99 and Dow Chemicals, the guys who now own Union Carbide, could have easily cleaned the shit up for like $4 million dollars. Might have been 40 million, I’m not 100% positive which it was. They’re a multi-billion dollar company, whatever the cleanup cost was spread over 4 years, that would have been chicken feed to them. But because that money wouldn’t go to the shareholders, screw it, not our responsibility to clean up this mess.

[@joelshajan8706]

@@anujith99 It's not illegal if you're not caught. That's how these corps work. Doesn't matter where they're are. If there are loopholes,they will be used

[@cpt_nordbart]

I remember watching this on USCSB. There was a close call in the US for the same to happen like a big tank was barely missed by debris from an explosion in the chemical plant. I need to look up where it was happening.

[@risu6894]

cpt nordbart a fellow USCSB viewer, our influence grows

[@captdev]

Yes! It was only saved by a mesh shielding and there was calls to move the tanks of MIC underground only.

[@danielwilliams1672]

@@risu6894 One of us. One of us. One of us.

[@dsandoval9396]

CSB Channel is a great channel. I've re-binge watched those videos so many times, they're really good. I'm torn when I see a new video come up because I know it'll be good but then in order for a video to be made there usually has to be an accident.

[@DrJReefer]

We had a cloud of toxic gas descend on the south east of England when I was a kid. Don't remember what caused it. I do remember a lot of panic and being told to stay inside and close the windows. No one died thankfully

[@SerMattzio]

As a Chemist in the lab we had these chemicals and even in small quantities we took plenty of precautions with them due to how toxic they are. It's terrifying to think people operating a plant at a mass scale were this insanely irresponsible and laissez faire with tons and tons of this stuff.

[@BadOompaloompa79]

They knew. A guy at the plant died after getting a small amount of MIC on his clothing. He jumped in the emergency shower and took off his gas mask. He inhaled the gas from the H20 MIC reaction and was killed. This was a few years before the major incident.

[@writershard5065]

It's 'cause they were ordered to. This disaster wouldn't have happened without the pressure from Union Carbide's highest to keep profits high regardless of safety in their non-american and non-european sites. Their own company investigated and found plenty of issues with the factory, and yet they did nothing to pressure their factory to be more secure. Instead in their haste to turn a profit out of their bad decision, they squandered safety standards and helped kill so many people.

[@draelon]

Detailed review of this accident was one of the first areas of study in my industrial hygiene course... taking your job seriously and understanding the impact of failures is something a lot of places don’t do a good job conveying. There were students literally in tears during this block. I can’t speak for my whole class but I never forgot this throughout my career, even when doing simple ventilation checks and routine air sampling.

[@ryjelsum]

It's hard to learn about but if you are an industrial operator you really have to know the stakes of what you are doing. Thank you for not forgetting.

[@user-kp2hl9du5g]

Same I'm studying to get my MIS degree and in my into to business class we also discussed this tragedy for out ethics portion it was horrible to see how money can push people to do horrible things

[@gyromurphy]

"my eyes, my beautiful eyes". "Tea first"

[@VoidHalo]

Missed a perfect opportunity for "My eyes, the goggles do nothing!"

[@kermitderfrosch1704]

Nothing\ Wouldn't be surprised if they didn't have Goggles. Profit over safety is usually how corporations operate in poor countries

[@BK-ku1zt]

"the goggles, they do nothing!

[@GBart]

tii

[@HebaruSan]

"Virginia" and "West Virginia" are two separate (but adjacent) places. A West Virginia plant is not located in Virginia.

[@ChrisD__]

@Apple User 2 When I drove through West Virginia, I wondered if West Virginia knew they existed.

[@mitchellroberts7954]

One could say West Virginia is... West of Virginia.

[@arthas640]

@Apple User 2 to be fair west Virginia barely exists, if they had a deeper tan youd br forgiven for mistaking west Virginia for a Brazilian or Indian slum rather than an american state

[@anthonydivon5571]

Well actually West Virginia was a part of Virginia until I believe 1863 in the middle of the civil war

[@notashton8689]

Apple User 2 I live in West Virginia and I forget it exists

[@larrygall5831]

I remember this when I was a kid. I also remember seeing the Union Carbide icon on the side of a 6v battery. Those are the only two times I heard about UC until KZbin came along later and I finally learned about it in a meaningful way.

[@jwenting]

yup, and remember them changing their commercial branding afterwards to UCAR.

[@thedepartmentofredundancyd5160]

Yes, on Eveready batteries with that weird spooky black cat with a Pikachu tail jumping through a 9.

[@BadOompaloompa79]

Union Carbide killed a lot of people. Not just in India. Look up Hawks nest tunnel. They were shoving workers into a toxic environment without protection and burying the bodies in a mass grave for a year. This was 50 years before Bhopal. Gotta make that green. Workers are expendable. Always have been always will be.

[@LetsTalkAboutPrepping]

Ooh a bhopal video. This was a nasty event which I've related as a warning to others. Most internet resources on this are rather aged so im happy you've done this

[@thelol1759]

I highly recommend looking up the United States Chemical Safety Board’s extensive research and videos on this topic! They have some amazing information on process safety.

[@VoidHalo]

USCSB is a great channel. I spent many an hour watching their videos. I can't recall any specfic names, but I know there are a couple of other channels which are similar that I've come across in the related content.

[@notthatcreativewithnames]

@@VoidHalo I'm binging on this now.

[@idontknowmyname6501]

USCSB is honestly one of the more intresting channels around.

[@texasdeeslinglead2401]

It'd s very complete recounting of the incident . I'm currently eagerly waiting for the video for TPC Group video on Port Neches plant incident . I live very close to this incident . It was like a nuclear bomb was dropped on us.

[@samantoniak1657]

Uscsb is really great. I'd also recommend the canadian "WorksSafeBC" channel.

[@SvenTviking]

The word “Phosgene” is enough to raise worries!

[@anuragbeohar9591]

It was MIC.

[@MrSunrise-]

@@anuragbeohar9591 Yeah, but phosgene was being used in the synthesis. For people who know chemicals, that word alone is enough to get their attention.

[@henrym3780]

"Something has gone wrong somewhere" That's some good public announcing there, Lou

[@sblinder1978]

I'd heard of Bhopal, but never knew it was like this. I had thought it was like a huge tank ruptured and people got hit with a wave of poisonous chemicals all at once- you either got hit or you didn't. I had no idea it was this insidious. I can't imagine dying to a rain of industrial poison while asleep, believing that everything was going to be okay.

[@fmbga]

I read "Five Past Midnight in Bhopal" over 15 years ago, and I still remember it not only for its description of the disaster, but also for the vivid depiction of the lives of some of the poor people who lived next to the UCC plant. Can't recommend it highly enough!

[@silverstrings5569]

A note to "bizarrely, spray water onto the tank" That is in fact how firefighters are trained to fight BLEVE (Boiling Liquid Expanding Vapor Explosion). Cooling the tank helps to delay/prevent the explosion. I, personally, have used it to great effect...but not against anything that was reactive to water. As usual, preventative maintenance could have saved lives here, too.

[@rafaelsote11]

I heard phosgene and i already know what failed

[@Techno_Idioto]

I heard 'Phosgene' and went 'Aw fuck, this is gonna be horrendous..'

[@Acepilot235]

My hazmat teacher asked if anyone ever heard of the bhopal incident. Me and two others out of a class of 25 knew what he was talking about and some of the details of it. The entire class was like "Wait what? THAT'S CRAZY!" when we went into some detail about it and the dangers of phosgene. Gives a pretty good idea as to how dangerous the world of hazmat can be lmao..

[@theanarcho-luthierist2882]

i used to do metal fab and my welding instructor told us some horror stories about welding and toluene...

[@kmmining1359]

Phosgene was used in WWI as a trench warfare gas

[@phantom4E2]

I heard phosgene and thought about them warcrimes ))))))

[@glitterbitesback]

I know it’s odd but there’s two things I will always remember about this event. That heartbreaking photo of the little girl and tea. The tea break. Every documentary mentions it and it really did add to the horror.

[@cecilchesley7406]

I love this "won't happen to us" mind set of companies when doing something amoral that inevitably leads to a major disaster

[@ktj3917]

Oo, I do not think it happened to any of whom who made that dicission. And it was the feeling that the plant was in some third world country, that made the company not give the required attention it needed.

[@BadOompaloompa79]

They know it will happen. They just don't care.

[@alanwatts8239]

Engineer: There's something wrong here. Plant: He's delusional.

[@OhNotThat]

"we released several tons of toxic gas into the atmosphere" "the meter only says only a 3.6 mililiters of gas was released. Not great, not terrible." "thats... the highest the reader goes. I saw the blown valves all over the roof" "YOU DIDN'T SEE THE VALVES BECAUSE IT WASN'T THERE!!!!"

[@DesertFernweh]

The CEO of Union Carbide at the time was wanted for murder in India but the US government refused to extradite him. He Died in 2014 in a Nursering home in Florida at 92 never seeing the inside of a jail cell.

[@painmagnet1]

An excellent synopsis of events. Please do more of these. People need to be aware that industrial accidents are almost always driven by the greed of management and that those ultimately responsible are rarely held accountable, as in this case.

[@PlainlyDifficult]

Thank you! Unfortunately greed causes too much distress in the world!

[@soumiran10]

​@@PlainlyDifficultwhy not cover the Gaisal Rail Disaster of 1999. A head on collision of massive proportions

[@IxodesPersulcatus]

-The pipes with hazardous chemicals are bursting! What should we do? -Sprinkle it with water and have a tea.

[@rishi7629]

The water sprinklers were all malfunctioning for months by then.. otherwise they would have reacted with the gas and neutralised it. That was supposed to be the point, a gas that can be easily counted by something as simple as a blanket of water.

[@dushyantpuri]

I grew up in Bhopal, my parents and sister lived through this. My parents still talk about this night and how horrific the experience was.

[@cmuguette4600]

I read "it is midnight five at Bhopal! horrifying disaster! Monsanto was a killer

[@maxwellschmid588]

I had a book when I was very young that had a bunch of accounts of natural disasters and one of them was Bhopal. It was an eye witness account of a young girl who was affected. The way she described the entire town being in a toxic fog that burned her skin and eyes and having her dad struggle to carry her to safety was very intense and i can only imaginebow traumatic it was. It's such a shame when things like that happen due to completely avoidable carelessness or corruption.

[@12201185234]

3-16,000... That's quite the range there.

[@kermitderfrosch1704]

Fuck You Google The death toll for Chernobyl is just as ridiculous. 31-93,000. I guess disasters on this scale will always be impossible to measure with accuracy.

[@anvutrong6870]

Its called standard deviation

[@Micklemoose]

As the others said there is always a wide range when it comes to disasters of this scale but the problem in India is worse than most other places because the government makes very little effort to keep track of the population in the slums. My guess is that the 3000 number is just the people who mattered enough to actually have documentation while the 16k number is the best guess of aid groups that treated the actual victims. India is in many ways still a caste society and the lower castes are seen to a certain extent as less-than-human by the elites.

[@davidmarquardt2445]

@@kermitderfrosch1704 In communist country's, they are a wonderful worker's paradise where nothing bad ever happens. Or so they desperately try to portray to the outside world, any mention of an accident or criticism of misdeeds is treated as a personal attack on their government, requiring a full counter propaganda response. Deny or severely understate anything has occurred is a common tactic. At Chernobyl they denied anything happened for several days, then claimed it was a minor fire that was under control. Despite the US having satellite photos showing the ruins of the reactor and huge black smoke plume, which was being detected by giger counters in neabouring country's as it passed overhead. Over there ideology trumps reality.

[@ptonpc]

He means "Between three thousand and sixteen thousand"

[@CShivery]

I'm a member of the NFPA. Your videos are very helpful in explaining to others the events that led to major disasters. Thank you. Any interest in doing some on large loss nightclub fires such as Cocoanut Grove or the Station Nightclub Fire would be awesome.

[@patronsaintofpoison]

The fire at the Iroqouis Theatre in Chicago was quite horrific, since mostly children died

[@alexcarter8807]

They literally have no idea how many people died, by a factor of 5?

[@WeepingWillow6497]

alex carter yep.

[@Val.Kyrie.]

@Just Looking you mean the states? Trump wanted to open back up. But now that mumbles is in, it’s better?

[@leasinclaire]

its partially due to hospitals being so badly overwelhmed at the time, the panic that ensued afterward, union carbide wanting numbers down, parts of the indian government wanting numbers down and other parts wanting it up. no one went around counting bodies when you very suddenly have *thousands* of corpses around an entire city. and then theres problems of people who died much later on, or babies who died of birth defects from exposure, if they should be added to the count. fun fact, bhopal continues to have much higher rates of birth defects than any other part of india, due to this accident and the continued problem of cleanup afterward.

[@thomasnesmith5426]

"10 psi... I'm told it's no worse than a chest x-ray"

[@qbasic16]

not great, not horrifying

[@TommyCrosby]

To a some extent, you can't save money by cutting on maintenance and security cost. You are just "investing" money for the impending crisis.

[@willynebula6193]

Can i say, i found your channel about 2 weeks ago and I've been addicted since! Just about seen all your vids and enjoyed every one. Keep them coming! you have made a great channel!

[@PlainlyDifficult]

Thank you I really appreciate it!

[@king_h.3826]

How my dad and grandparents survived this though they lived bit far from the factory, It was early morning when people on streets started shouting "gas is leaking-gas is leaking" everyone was in panic most people didn't had a vehicle and transportation facility was also not available and my grandfather was unable to find his wallet. So my grandfather said to the family members to completely cover themselves in a blanket so that you cannot inhale it but leave little space for a oxygen to get in. So everyone in the house followed this and also it was a winter season only. Then after few hours everyone's eyes as burning due to gas so they planned lets travel to the countryside because their gases could not reach, then they travelled via bus and on foot and finally reached the countryside and lived in a small house on rent for 5 days. That's how they survived.

[@risu6894]

I see you too have watched many a USCSB Documentary

[@PlainlyDifficult]

It is a great channel!!

[@sobolanul96]

A man of culture of course.

[@painmagnet1]

As a millwright and directly involved with preventing disasters of this sort by maintaining proper process controls, I find the USCSB videos fascinating. And I have butted heads with my managers many times in order to prevent disasters in my own plant. It can be frankly maddening.

[@DrJReefer]

@@painmagnet1 Profit > safety.

[@risu6894]

I discovered it after watching an OSHA PSA on Hydraulic Injection wounds. Scary stuff. Proceeded to spend 4 hours binging all the videos.

[@Feuerlaufer]

I've met one good plant manager out of a dozen or so over 10 years. F manufacturing I'll never go back

[@deadbeatarpan5755]

Thank you for covering this topic. This is the worst man-made disaster in my country. And the pictures from the affected scenes are stomach churning. There is a particular photo of the body of toddler among the dirt and it's just so depressing So many people and animals died due to neglect, it is both sad and terrifying

[@StainsStainsStains]

The animals yes. The people... no, not remotely.

[@6.0gang]

if your country would have gave a shit about chemical plant safety that would have never happened

[@shreeraaman1667]

9-11 happened because the United States didn't give a shit about anti-hijacking measures for commercial airliners. @@6.0gang

[@Werrf1]

Tough to say I "enjoyed" the video, but I did find it very clear and informative, and heart wrenchingly tragic. Thanks for what you do, PD.

[@EdPenwell]

11:12 Think you meant to type 25C, not 250C. At 250C, the entire contents of the tank would've boiled off to gas and blown the plant to pieces.

[@martinedelius]

Is that true even at that pressure?

[@allengray3408]

The shortcut key to degree(⁰) is in 0 key in some devices. Further, several editing apps cancel formatted text and turn them to normal, hence 0 instead of ⁰

[@Lemon_Inspector]

​@@allengray3408 did you really think the degree symbol was a superscript zero?

[@tbh_chomu]

uk what.. it was actually more than 400C

[@REDGT10]

Human contaminated bodies: Throw them in to the river. Contaminated Animals: a mass grave was dug 5km away. What tf why

[@ptonpc]

Tossing them in the river means you can say "What those bodies? Oh no they didn't die here. Honest we have nooooo idea where they came from." The Indian government was more interested in sucking up to Union Carbide than protecting its own people.

[@indy_go_blue6048]

@@volkskrieg8735 Also Hindus believe that cattle are the highest level of animal existence being the incarnated souls of those who lived previously and will be incarnated as humans in their next lives. Meanwhile for the poor, they're poor because of their bad karma from another life.

[@Abhishek-sr2pu]

@@indy_go_blue6048 lol pretty brainwashed look you have on Hinduism. We don't find cows as most holy at least the government during that time was socialists so I doub that. And about dumping corpse in river, it's really weird to me as traditionally we hindus burn our dead and then dump the ashes in q pond or in a river. Dumping on ganga is also considered as holy as it was the center of Vedic civilization. And dead bodies on river, I think either someone committed sucide or someone murder another one and then dump it. It's really funny that after stereotype us by calling us streetshitters but when they see the new data I guess they now want a new stereo type?

[@Abhishek-sr2pu]

Didn't they burn their dead bodies as this video said? We don't burry our dead we burn them.

[@uttamsharma6358]

1. We don't have any rivers in bhopal. It is "city of lakes". 2. At the time bhopal had about 30-35 percent Islamic population and 60 percent Hindus. Hindus prefer cremation. In Islam they bury. 3. So many were dead that they did not have enough wood to burn them separately so they had to make huge piles of bodies.

[@halcyon_daze9241]

I'm a resident of bhopal city Where this tragedy took place decades ago , we are still now allowed to go to that area or see it , also ppl here say it Literally gives super negative vibes , My dad and his brothers were livin' here at the time when this tragedy happened and trust me it was way worse than how it's explained here , it's only unfortunate that this tragedy never got the place in popular list as Chernobyl etc

[@Ikusabe]

I’ve seen videos on this before but your technical knowledge on the incident is unparalleled. Nicely done.

[@adamwiggins9865]

Toxic bodies in The River Feces in the river Laundry in the River Tea anyone?

[@TimatorA]

I used to work at a company that worked with these same chemicals. Scary stuff

[@hopegallows1392]

Love the video quality content as usual. But I’m kinda upset that my home terf of Love Canal didn’t win the poll. Hopefully you’ll be able to cover it soon.

[@PlainlyDifficult]

Don’t worry it’s on my list!

[@joevogelberger9922]

I'm looking foward to it, too. I'm originally from Niagara Falls.

[@TheHighestWumpus]

My aunt's husband is actually from there id really like to hear about what exactly happened with that

[@melteddali8000]

jeff didomenico they built a neighborhood on top of a chemical dump site

[@margaretcooper797]

I like the background that Plainly gives for these stories.Very interesting and illuminating information to understand what went wrong.

[@shubhammathur2926]

i am from bhopal and i lost my grandparents in the disaster .My mother has alot of problems because of it .Even I have some breathing problems as it came to me from my mother ,I hope people get justice.They expect us to stay quiet by getting some money but fuck the money .There has been no justice

[@filpaul]

Tell me you were an English Possession without telling me you were an English Possession. 1:23 - That roundel

[@BenCDBrown]

So...still think safety regs restrict business?

[@d.m.wilson]

It is said that safety regulations are written in blood. Sadly, it's because some people don't see the need for them until blood has been spilled. (And sometimes not even then.) :(

[@BenCDBrown]

Governments all over the world love to be reactive rather than proactive.

[@abandonedchannel281]

Safety regulations that aren’t inforced will result in disaster Sad thing is we cannot vote in a way that can enforce them, in unregulated systems they’ll bring us back to the Victorian days, try more regulation and companies will always find a way around them. Any other solution is considered too radical or idealist we truly are fucked

[@Itried20takennames]

I am all for safety, but rules can get out of control too. In the us, a law was made stating that employers needed to keep a binder listing the chemicals in the solutions used, because before factory or plant staff would show up in ERs saying “I don’t know what sprayed on me. They just call it Factor 3,” obviously delaying care. But in implementation, it ended up with every office having to keep binders listing all the ingredients in White Out, printer ink, etc. or get dinged for it.

[@user-xg8yy7yl1d]

@@abandonedchannel281 Simple: Some things should not be privately owned that doesnt mean all things but there are some things where operation procedure outweigh profits.

[@pegzounet]

Man, i hope you don't get nightmares from researching all this. That one certainly has me shivering. Keep up the good work, that was perfect

[@shelby3822]

The tea break reminds me of the guy reporting the issue with the holding tank for the great Boston molasses flood - nothing to see here all is ok

[@PlainlyDifficult]

I need to read into the Boston flood, might be a future video!

[@shelby3822]

@@PlainlyDifficult this is what i read: www.amazon.com/Dark-Tide-Great-Boston-Molasses/dp/080707800X/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?keywords=boston+molasses+flood&qid=1579263984&sprefix=boaton+mola&sr=8-1#aw-udpv3-customer-reviews_feature_div

[@bekaz13]

Came looking for this vid after watching the Netflix series The Railway Men, about the workers at Bhopal Junction and other stations who worked through the night to reroute trains away from the station to prevent more people from entering the affected area. The deputy station master also cleared an express train for departure 15 minutes early once he realized something was wrong, getting over 1000 people out of Bhopal before the gas could reach them. The series is definitely a dramatization, so there are fictional characters and some events (like the express train) were changed to heighten the tension, but otherwise it's a fantastic representation of what happened that night. It also makes sure to illustrate the political climate in India at the time, particularly the Sikh Genocide that was being carried out following the assassination of Indira Gandhi. I would recommend it to anyone wanting to learn more about the incident.

[@jonhiggins2012]

"Threw the bodies in the river." Real nice there, India.

[@dariapaulet1181]

I chose to do a school project about Bhopal Disaster. Thank you so much, you're a lifesaver!! And your links are really helpful! Thank you for putting your sources in the description! (Srry for potential bad English)

[@chrisperry7963]

Thank you, great job as always. This was a truly harrowing disaster.

[@stormerbuzz352]

There is a gas plant near where I used to live and there was a structure with the tanks like the one you described. I always wondered what the pipes all did and now thanks to your video, I have a good idea what they could have been for. Informative and entertaining!

[@Tiger-nm5cc]

If only they bought a new tank

[@Idaho-Cowboy]

Great video. Much better and more informative than a lot of the professionals that have covered the topic.

[@PlainlyDifficult]

Thank you 😊

[@jiribrabec2100]

Was looking for this comment. Thorough and informative.

[@drcat1337]

"samir, you're breaking the tank" "shaddap"

[@squiglemcsquigle8414]

The irony that this is way bigger than chernobyl by every measure and yet people compare it to the relatively minor chernobyl

[@sarahamira5732]

At this point everytime I'm watching a video like this and I hear "union carbide" I sigh deeply like a disappointed parent

[@ianmoyer5332]

The magazine advert for Union Carbide literally says "A hand in things to come."

[@lubbas72]

Topic suggestion: The russian U137 submarine run aground in Sweden in 1981. This ended up in a complex diplomatic cold war clash. Close to WW3?

[@KB4QAA]

No. There was no chance of a war starting.

[@digitalrailroader]

The Bhopal disaster needs to be a cautionary reminder of what happens when corporate greed is left completely unchecked, and various safety and maintenance programs get cut for maximum shareholder and executive profits.

[@notthatcreativewithnames]

I felt a little bit of cringe when you show some adverts of Union Carbide, as we all know that most of those adverts, if not all, don't aged well. Would you like to do another disaster occured in India, the 1996 Charkhi Dadri mid-air collision?

[@PlainlyDifficult]

I’ve been reading up on a different Indian disaster the Mayapuri radiological incident, I’ll have a look at the one you suggested!

[@Idaho-Cowboy]

@@PlainlyDifficult You had me at radiological. Looking forward to it.

[@VoidHalo]

Same. It sounds interesting, if not horrific.

[@notthatcreativewithnames]

@@PlainlyDifficult That's also interesting one. There is a similar incident as in Mayapuri happened in Thailand as well, also involved Co-60, called Samut Prakan radiation accident. It was when I was in Year 1 or 2, I think, and it was very big news. (I can help you with pronunciation for Thai as well.)

[@mommachupacabra]

I remember those Union Carbide commercials from... just before or after Wonderful World of Disney, I think.

[@pavarottiaardvark3431]

We need an HBO series on Bhopal. A lot of people came out of watching Chernobyl thinking that communism was the problem. Lies were the problem.

[@littlebear274]

There has just been released one on Netflix called The Railwaymen which is extremely well done. I came to rewatch this having finished the series.

[@jonnda]

MIC was then reacted with KEY and sold to the Disney corporation

[@glasstuna]

A company that sells its own type of poison.

[@Neoreaver]

UC screwed up, but so did the local management. Anyone could have said something so much earlier, and the fact that all the safety measures were basically deactivated makes it hard to feel for the employees.

[@frankkolton1780]

"Union Carbide - Making the world a better place through chemistry" ...sure.

[@drdis01]

This channel is absolutely incredible. I love everything you do as a channel

[@DrJReefer]

This is one of my earliest memories.

[@VoidHalo]

One of my early memories relates to the Gulf War. I was 5 or 6 and we had a hamster my brother for some reason named "stud" I thought his name was SCUD. lol

[@DrJReefer]

@@VoidHalo Aww that's a cute little story.

[@12345.......]

@@DrJReefer can you elaborate? Were you in that area during the incident?

[@DrJReefer]

@@12345....... Nah. I saw it on tv. I was only little though. Maybe 7. This and the war of the camps in Beirut are the first news stories I can remember

[@abandonedchannel281]

Dr J Reefer My earliest memory of the news was when Obama won the 2012 elections

[@aishipar1849]

Putting into perspective Casualties due to BGT - 15k Casualties due to Chernobyl - 4k (directly attributed 50)

[@succuvamp_anna]

West Virginia, not Virginia, we're a separate state. lol, not upset, just letting ya know.

[@FuckMargaretThatchher]

1: Build a to big plant, that cant self sustain itself 2: Remove all expert staff 3: Hire a profit, no safety type manager 4: Use cheapest parts 5: Don't maintain Safety Equipment and Systems 6: Don't maintain system integrity 7: Ignore 3 warnings 8: Put water in a system that reacts to water 9: Ignore the alarm 10: Spray more water on the system: 11: Mute alarms and have a break 12: Just leave the plant ... 999: To remove left over Chemicals, turn the damaged unmaintained plant with it's unexperienced staff back on and produce more Smart, Smarter, Smartest, Union Carbide

[@trenchcoatbandit]

i love the animations the tank with the 40 psi looks pissed

[@regular-joe]

"Can it happen again?" Has basic human nature changed? This was not a natural disaster, it was caused by the greed and callousness of powerful men. It WILL happen again, sadly. Edit: I forgot to say great video, well explained, and also thanks for not sensationalizing it - I put off watching it though I wanted to know more, because I wasn't sure what would be shown.

[@sarjim4381]

Thanks for this documentary. As you asid, a much longer film would be required to show both how it happened and then the effects of the gas releases to the surrounding population. Another mass industrial accident similar to this is almost inevitable as more and more plants are being built in countries where corruption and negligence are endemic to the culture and political systems.

[@HarryFlashmanVC]

Scientists: "well boss, we have a plan to solve the crisis!" Boss: "Great! What do you call it?" Scientists:" Operation Faith!" Boss:"........."

[@TheJustAamir]

Thank you for covering this tragedy which in my openion is one of the greatest manmade tragedies of modern day. The quality of water is still shitty around the slums till date and the victim famalies still fight an uphill battle for justice against the mogul Dow Chemical.

[@anthonyhayes1267]

I just got out of a safety committee meeting at the end of my shift. I get home and this is in my recommendations.

[@vebastiansettel1173]

3-16.000 range of casualties. Well that's escalated quickly

[@MUSTDOS]

In a way, this is worse than Chernobyl, it happened around the 80's and no news outlet covered Union Carbide's mess

[@asharamnagwanshi1965]

Because america was too involved in this gas tragedy 🙁

[@dwavenminer]

Great video, I think it's not a matter of if something like this will happen again, but when...gotta meet those unrealistic targets for your shareholders after all...

[@Starfloofle]

Honestly the sooner somebody does something about this insanity that the shareholder system is enforcing upon capitalism the better...

[@fprefect1000]

Thanks for another great video! I have to ask… Do you know is exacerbated not exasperated?

[@lutello3012]

Oh boy, this one! Do Love Canal if that's your thing. (Not what you do i guess but i've been obsessed with it lately.)

[@joevogelberger9922]

2,3,7,8 Tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin. It's what's for breakfast.