The explosion occurred on the night of December 2-3, 1984, at the Union Carbide India Limited pesticide plant releasing methyl isocyanate and other chemicals into the air. Over 500,000 people were exposed to the toxic gas, killing a total of 3,787 among which 2,259 were immediate. The two photographers, Pablo Bartholomew and Raghu Rai, who went to document the aftermath of the tragedy came across a burying ceremony where a man was burying a child. As they did not ask the man’s identity and no one claimed to be the child’s relative, her identity remains unknown.
