New Delhi, November 21 (RHC)-- In India, victims of the deadly Bhopal gas leak have won a victory just weeks before the disaster’s 30th anniversary. Five women launched a hunger strike last week to demand the Indian government expand its compensation claim against Union Carbide over the catastrophic leak at its pesticide plant.

Amnesty International says an Indian official agreed to demands including a revision of the government’s claim only about 5,000 people were killed and another 5,000 disabled. Campaigners say the actual death toll is about 23,000, with more than half a million more poisoned.

The toxic legacy continues to this day with Union Carbide and its current owner, Dow Chemical, refusing to pay for clean-up.