BHOPAL: Survivors of the deadly 1984 Bhopal gas tragedy marched through this central Indian town Wednesday afternoon protesting the visit of US President George W. Bush.

Shouting “Killer of Bhopal, Hiroshima, Iraq, Afghans, go back”, about 100 marchers demanded justice for the victims of 40 tons of lethal methyl isocyanate gas that seeped into Bhopal from a Union Carbide plant just before midnight on December 2, 1984.

More than 3,500 people died immediately from the gas leak, but the death toll has since climbed to more than 15,000,, according to government figures.

Bhopal rights activists say the real toll is double that while Amnesty International estimated last year that between 22,000 and 25,000 people had died as a result of the tragedy.

Officials say about 800,000 people still suffer from various after-effects from inhaling the poisonous fumes.—AFP