International
After gas leak tragedy, Bhopal victims fall prey to virus
Victims of a horrifying 1984 gas leak in the Indian city of Bhopal, who have long suffered the debilitating fallout of the world’s worst industrial disaster, are now dying from coronavirus, with relatives and activists accusing the government of abandoning them and withholding treatment.
Toxic methyl isocyanate released from the Union Carbide pesticide factory killed 3,500 people in the central Indian city immediately and 25,000 more in the years that followed.
Now its victims make up a significant proportion of coronavirus fatalities in Bhopal — at least 20 out of 45, according to government data, while activists say 37 of the dead suffered illnesses related to the leak.
Gaurav Khatik’s 52-year-old father Naresh was one of them. Khatik said his father, who suffered lung damage in the disaster, was denied treatment at a hospital built for gas-afflicted patients.
The state-of-the-art Bhopal Memorial Hospital and Research Centre (BMHRC) — a busy four-storey 350-bed facility on a sprawling compound on the city’s outskirts — was requisitioned by the Madhya Pradesh state government in March for virus patients.
But the move created “a lot of confusion” and contributed to deadly treatment delays, Khatik told AFP.
A lack of transport due to the lockdown also meant that an average 40-minute journey from the city centre to the hospital became an arduous, longer trip under sweltering conditions.
“People wasted a lot of time going from one hospital to another to seek treatment, which claimed many lives,” the 20-year-old said.
The BMHRC turned away people who were not considered virus patients even though they had COVID-19 symptoms, critics said.
They were then denied treatment at other hospitals, with staff saying they did not have the specialised equipment to treat gas-related ailments. They were presumed not to have the virus and no tests were carried out.
“If there was no confusion over the status of Bhopal Memorial Hospital, my father would probably be alive,” Khatik said.
Naresh was eventually admitted to a private hospital, where he was finally tested for the virus as his condition deteriorated.
He died within hours of being found positive, leaving his shell-shocked family without a breadwinner and almost $1,180 in medical debt.
“He was our lifeline,” Khatik said, fighting to hold back tears.
‘Nightmare’
Activists accuse the government of abandoning the community, whose health conditions make them vulnerable to coronavirus.
“We had alerted the government that if they didn’t take proactive action, many gas victims would die from COVID-19 … but they paid no heed,” Rachna Dhingra of the Bhopal Group for Information and Action told AFP.
“They should have reached out to all gas victims suffering from diabetes or hypertension and tested them.”
Like Khatik, housewife Gulnaz faced a “nightmare” when her father-in-law Riyazuddin — who suffered respiratory ailments after the gas disaster — complained of breathing difficulties.
“We had to struggle a lot… to get help,” the 35-year-old told AFP, adding that four hospitals, including BMHRC, refused to take the 65-year-old.
He was finally admitted to the state-run Hamidia Hospital, where he tested positive for coronavirus.
“He was in the hospital only for a day and passed away by evening,” Gulnaz, who only gave her first name, said.
Authorities eventually reversed their decision to requisition BMHRC. But the move came too late for many patients, Dhingra said.
The activist said at least five gas victims died from coronavirus because the hospital rejected them.
Bhopal’s health commissioner Faiz Ahmed Kidwai told AFP “only one case of a patient turned away is accurate”.
“All those who died did not die because BMHRC refused admission,” he said.
‘Too late’
The 1984 disaster left deep scars across the city of 1.8 million.
Government statistics compiled after 1994 say at least 100,000 people living near the plant suffered ailments including respiratory and kidney problems, and cancer.
Gas-affected mothers gave birth to infants with congenital disorders. Children fell ill from polluted groundwater.
A $470-million settlement inked in 1989 only provided compensation to some 5,000 people, campaigners say.
The government in 2012 filed a legal petition seeking further damages from US chemical giant Dow Chemicals, which now owns Union Carbide.
The state’s Bhopal Gas Tragedy Relief and Rehabilitation department director Ved Prakash told AFP thermal screening was now being carried out on gas victims who have COVID-19 symptoms or are vulnerable “so that they can be isolated and quarantined”.
But Dhingra said the move — which reflects India’s push to largely limit testing to people with acute respiratory infections, cough and fever — would sound a death knell for gas victims.
“They have to test… instead of just screening patients who are high-risk. By the time they turn symptomatic, it will be too late.
“The entire system has collapsed and the most vulnerable are paying with their lives.”
Reporting and photos: AFP
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Emirates has kick-started its plans to upgrade the entire interior cabins of 120 Airbus A380 and Boeing 777 aircraft – two of the largest commercial aircraft types in service today.
This ambitious project, representing a multi-billion dollar investment to ensure Emirates’ customers “fly better” for the coming years, officially commences in November and is managed entirely by Emirates’ Engineering team.
The target is to completely retrofit four Emirates aircraft from start to finish every month, continuously for over 2 years. Once the 67 earmarked A380s are refreshed and back in service, 53 777s will undergo their facelift. This will see nearly 4,000 brand new Premium Economy seats installed, 728 First Class suites refurbished and over 5,000 Business Class seats upgraded to a new style and design when the project is complete in April 2025.
In addition, carpets and stairs will be upgraded, and cabin interior panels refreshed with new tones and design motifs including the iconic ghaf trees which are native to the UAE.
No other airline has handled a retrofit of this magnitude in-house, and there’s no blueprint for such an undertaking. Therefore Emirates Engineering teams have been planning and testing extensively, to establish and streamline processes, and identify and address any possible snags.
Trials began on an A380 in July, where experienced engineers literally took each cabin apart piece-by-piece and logged every step. From removing seats and panelling to bolts and screws, every action was tested, timed and mapped out. Potential impediments to completing the installation of Emirates’ new Premium Economy Class or the retrofit of the remaining three cabins in just 16 days were flagged and documented for expert teams to review and address.
As part of the programme, new purpose-built workshops will be set up at Emirates Engineering to repaint, re-trim and re-upholster Business and Economy Class seats with new covers and cushioning. First Class suites will be carefully disassembled and sent to a specialised company to replace the leather, arm rests and other materials.
From the trials, Engineers discovered several unexpected solutions for instance: that existing food catering trucks could be easily repurposed to move parts destined for refurbishment from the aircraft to the workshop for their refresh, as these vehicles had doors of the right width and offer sufficient space.
Until the retrofit programme starts in earnest in November, a cross-disciplinary team has been assembled to regularly review the planning process, address any issues, and track updates on various aspects of the project such as procurement, staffing, and training.
Emirates’ new Premium Economy cabin class, which offers luxurious seats, more legroom, and a service to rival many airlines’ business offering, is currently available to Emirates customers travelling on popular A380 routes to London, Paris, Sydney. More customers will be able to experience the airline’s new Premium Economy cabins starting from year end, as the retrofit programme picks up momentum.
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