Danbury, Conn. — Union Carbide employees in the United States have raised more than $100,000 to aid victims of history’s worst chemical disaster at a company plant in Bhopal, India, the firm says.
The workers already have distributed an initial $50,000 to three charitable organizations to help the tens of thousands of people injured in the catastrophic poison gas leak Dec. 3, 1984, David McFadden, managing director of the relief fund, said Thursday.
The Missionaries of Charity in New York, Lions Club International Foundation of Oak Brook, Ill., and Share and Care
Foundation for India of Ramsey, N.J., will distribute the donations, McFadden said in a statement released from Union Carbide’s world headquarters in Danbury.
The relief fund was started after the leak of methyl! isocyanate killed 2,500 people near Union Carbide’s pesticides plant in Bhopal, and is separate from assistance offered by the company.
Union Carbide also is negotiating with the Indian government to provide compensation to the victims and faces several lawsuits seeking billions of dollars in the United States.
The employees’ fund is being raised from Union Carbide workers, retired company workers and former employees of the firm’s domestic subsidiaries and affiliates, McFadden said.
Employees of Union Carbide’s worldwide operations, stockholders and customers also have offered food, money and clothing for the victims, but McFadden said the fund cannot accept the donations because of laws and regulations.
Those who want to contribute to the relief efforts in Bhopal are being urged to contact other organizations such as the American Red Cross, he said.
Article extracted from this publication >> February 22, 1985
