The Olympic Games’ opening ceremonies are being held today. On Thursday, victims of the Bhopal gas tragedy took part in a “Special Olympics” in India to protest the chemical giant Dow Chemical’s sponsorship of the London event. On December 3, 1984, around 40 metric tons of toxic gases leaked from a Union Carbide plant in Bhopal. The Indian government said soon afterward that around 3,500 people died, but campaigners estimate the total number of dead due to the leakage at 25,000, with many people still suffering. Years after the leak, Dow Chemical bought Union Carbide. An organizer of the Bhopal Special Olympics called Dow’s involvement with the London Olympics an outrage.

Rachna Dhingra: “Children (of families) who have been poisoned by Union Carbide and Dow Chemical are taking part in an event called 'Bhopal Special Olympics' — it’s a day before the opening ceremony of the London Olympic Games — to tell David Cameron and to Sebastian Coe that Dow Chemical needs to be kicked out of the Olympic Games, and also to the International Olympic Committee, who have signed a 10-year contract with Dow Chemical ’til 2020. We are doing are own games to tell them that their sponsorship will not be tolerated.”