Chemical firm condemned over Olympic sponsorships
Hundreds of survivors of the world’s worst industrial disaster have burned effigies of Lord Coe and an Indian Olympic official to protest against Dow Chemical’s sponsorship of the London Games. The protests came on the eve of the 27th anniversary of the disaster in Bhopal, India, where a Union Carbide pesticide plant leaked gas that killed an estimated 15,000 people and maimed tens of thousands more. Nearly 200 people, some carrying banners that said ‘Down with London Olympics’ and ‘We want justice’, marched to the now-abandoned plant.
They burned effigies of Lord Coe, the chairman of the London organising committee, and Vijay Kumar Malhotra, the head of India’s Olympic organising committee. So far 20 Indian Olympic athletes have urged the London Games to end Dow’s involvement.
Picture: Rafiq Maqbool)/AP.