The World - News from April 5, 1988

An Indian appeals court judge rejected an appeal by Union Carbide Corp. to block an order forcing the chemical company to pay interim relief to victims of the 1984 Bhopal toxic gas disaster, but the judge lowered the payment by $78 million. S. K. Seth, a High Court judge in Madhya Pradesh state, reduced the U.S.-based firm’s interim payment from $270 million to $192 million and gave the company until June 4 to make the interim payment or face further legal action. The Indian government says that 2,850 people died and more than 200,000 were injured when methyl isocyanate gas leaked from Union Carbide’s Bhopal plant. The interim payment was ordered pending a ruling on overall liability.