Twelve leak-free containers carrying 337 metric tons of toxic waste for incineration reached the Pithampur plant 42 miles from Bhopal amid heavy security, Swatantra Kumar Singh, the director of Bhopal gas tragedy relief and rehabilitation department, told Reuters.

The disaster by American company Union Carbide in Bhopal in 1984 left thousands dead. After 40 years, the process to dispose of the waste in Pithampur has started but locals are protesting with two men setting themselves on fire.

Authorities confirm all containers of toxic waste from Bhopal gas tragedy are secure in Pithampur, amid protests and rumors.

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,

Forty years after the Bhopal gas tragedy, 377 tonnes of hazardous waste has been shifted from the defunct Union Carbide factory for its disposal at a unit in Dhar district, officials said on Thursday.

Forty years after the devastating Bhopal Gas Tragedy, a major step has been taken to address the hazardous legacy of the disaster. Hundreds of tonnes of toxic waste, left behind at the site, have been moved to a disposal facility in Madhya Pradesh's Pithampur for incineration.

Four decades after the Bhopal Gas Tragedy, toxic waste from the Union Carbide plant is finally being transported for disposal.