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$12bn hoax 'cruel'
03/12/2004 15:04 - (SA)
Bhopal - A hoax played on the BBC that US giant Dow Chemical was to pay $12bn to those maimed in the world's worst industrial disaster was slammed Friday as "cruel" in this city where thousands died.
The British broadcaster had interviewed a man alleging to be a Dow Chemical spokesperson who announced the US giant had done an about-face and was taking full responsibility for the Bhopal gas leak on the day of the 20th anniversary.
Dow Chemical would start a $12bn fund "to finally at long last fully compensate the victims including the 120 000 who may need medical care", the speaker, who called himself Jude Finisterra, told the BBC.
Two hours later the BBC issued a statement admitting it had been taken in by an "elaborate deception".
"It is a cruel, cruel hoax to play on the people of Bhopal on the 20th anniversary of this tragedy," said Rachna Dhingra, an activist from the International Campaign for Justice in Bhopal.
"They have not lost hope; they have been through worse and are going to go through worse. This cannot shake their confidence," he vowed.
Thousands were killed instantly on December 3 1984 when a Union Carbide plant in Bhopal disgorged 44 tons of lethal methyl isocyanate gas into the air, while thousands more died in the aftermath of the disaster.
Dow Chemical, which took over Union Carbide, has long insisted that all liabilities regarding the gas leak have been settled with the Indian government.
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Iraqi Dossier
