On the night of 2-3 December 1984, after a gas leak from the Union Carbide pesticide factory there, a disaster occurred in the Indian city of Bhopal. The death toll since then has been estimated at 7000, with the number of injured several times that. After the catastrophe Raghu Rai photographed the face of a child, shortly before its burial. This photograph, the World Press Photo of the year, became an icon of the tragedy.
Eighteen years later, at the invitation of Greenpeace Rai (b. 1942) returned to the scene of the disaster. Thousands of people still suffer daily from the consequences of the calamity. Poisons in the soil continue to pollute the drinking water.
Photos: courtesy Magnum Photos / Greenpeace