Hundreds of NYC students assembled their bodies to spell out D-O-W on Dec. 3 in protest of the chemical company's refusal to face trial.
Roughly 25 years ago, 27 tons of lethal gases leaked from Union Carbide's pesticide factory in Bhopal, India, killing 8,000 people and poisoning thousands of others. Dow Chemical bought Union Carbide in 1999, and officials claim the company isn't responsible for Union Carbide’s spill.
Students from Parsons the New School formed the die-in protest, while other participants held up signs spelling out "Clean Up Bhopal."
"It's no surprise that hundreds of New School students volunteered to die today to call out the continued death and devastation in Bhopal that Dow Chemical refuses to take responsibility for," said faculty member Andy Bichlbaum. "It's great to see students continuing the feisty legacy of the New School."
The effects of the Dec. 2, 1984 leak are still apparent in Bhopal. Some toxins in the groundwater there are 2,400 times higher than World Health Organization and U.S. EPA Guidelines, according to a recent Bhopal Medical Appeal study.
"We're here to remind people in New York and elsewhere that Bhopalis continue to die from the after-effects of that disaster," Adriane Corwin, an organizer with the Bhopal campaign said.
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