Authorities in India have removed hundreds of tonnes of toxic waste from a chemical factory that witnessed one of the world's deadliest gas leaks 40 years ago. Thousands of people died in the central city of Bhopal in December 1984 after breathing a poisonous gas leaked from the factory.

Indian authorities said on Thursday they had completed moving toxic waste from the site of the 1984 Bhopal gas leak disaster, which killed more than 5,000 people, to a disposal facility where it will take three to nine months to incinerate.

Authorities in India have removed four decades' worth of toxic waste from a chemical factory that saw one of the deadliest gas leaks in history. In December 1984, thousands of people were killed from a gas leak at a US-owned Union Carbide pesticide factory in the country's central city of Bhopal.

Protests erupted in Pithampur, Madhya Pradesh, against the incineration of 337 tonnes of toxic waste linked to the Bhopal gas tragedy. The protests led to the registration of five cases under various sections of the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita.

Protests in Pithampur, Madhya Pradesh, erupted over the planned disposal of 337 tonnes of toxic waste from the Bhopal gas tragedy. Authorities imposed prohibitory orders to manage the tensions. The situation remains tense,

A court in December had set a four-week deadline for the waste to be disposed. On Wednesday, the toxic waste - around 337 tonnes - was taken from the Union Carbide factory in the central Indian city of Bhopal to an incinerator facility around 230km (143 miles) away.

Indian authorities said on Thursday they had completed moving toxic waste from the site of the 1984 Bhopal gas leak disaster, which killed more than 5,000 people.:: December 3, 1984On December 3, 1984 a methyl isocyanate gas leaked from a pesticide factory owned by American firm Union Carbide,