text: A judge hearing the Bhopal gas disaster case asked Union Carbide Corp &lt;UK> and the Indian government to agree on interim compensation for the victims. Judge M.W. Deo said he had made the appeal because the court case was likely to be a long struggle for the disaster victims. The Indian government is demanding more than three billion dlrs from Union Carbide on behalf of some 526000 claimants following the worlds worst industrial disaster in December 1984. According to official Indian figures 2413 people were killed and more than 200000 injured when a cloud of methyl isocyanate gas from a Union Carbide pesticide plant enveloped Bhopal. Reuter
target: BHOPAL CASE JUDGE SEEKS INTERIM COMPENSATION