Bhopal victims in protest over Olympic sponsor

Survivors of the Bhopal gas leak in 1984 have held their own special version of the Olympic Games in India as a form of protest against the sponsorship of the London Games by Dow Chemical.

About 80 disabled children took part in ten sports in Bhopal yesterday, in protest at the company’s link with the International Olympic Committee and Dow’s refusal to increase a 1989 compensation package for victims of the leak.

We have been protesting against Dow’s sponsorship for a year now, we want them to be dropped” organisers’ spokeswoman Rachna Dhingra said.

As many as 25,000 residents of Bhopal died in the aftermath of the gas leak at a pesticide factory that was owned by a subsidiary of Union Carbide in 1984.

Dow, which bought Union Carbide in 2001, has repeatedly denied responsibility for Bhopal.