Counting Bodies

Typical.

In 1984, the Bhopal industrial accident in India is thought to have killed between 5,000 and 10,000 people and seriously injured 30,000 to 40,000; a liquid-petroleum gas leak at Ixhuatapec in Mexico killed 252, left around 1,000 'missing' and hundreds injured, and fire from a leak at a petrol line in Brazil killed at least 500.

In the same year, there were at least four other accidents that left hundreds of people injured.
Linden, New Jersey: 160 hospitalised
Metamoras, Mexico: 200 requiring hospital treatment
Cubatao, Brazil: 300 hospitalised
North Sumatra, Indonesia: 130 injured.

There were, of course, many other accidents on smaller scales. The number of injuries or killings that these accidents cumulatively represent is not clear.

It seems hardly surprising that almost all of these accidents took place in developing countries. I wonder who heard of these accidents at the time, and whether or not anyone would even have been interested in them had Bhopal not occured. What would the response have been if all of these accidents had taken place in the US, or in Britain?

And how many accidents like these, in the chemical or other big industries, are taking place today that we don't know about?


(Data from 'Corporate Killing, Bhopals Will Happen', by Tara Jones, 1988.)