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.

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.

Indian authorities have begun to transfer 337 tons of toxic waste from the 1984 Bhopal gas tragedy to a disposal plant, amidst strict security measures to avoid another chemical disaster like the one that caused thousands of deaths in this city four decades ago.

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.

Senior officials on Sunday visited the unit in Pithampur in Madhya Pradesh's Dhar district, where 337 tonnes of toxic waste linked to the Bhopal gas tragedy is set to be incinerated, for inspection after a rumour spread on social media that one of the containers carrying the waste had gone missing.