The French novelist Dominique Lapierre, famous for his book City of Joy, has called for more help and adequate compensation for the victims of the Bhopal gas disaster.

Mr Lapierre was speaking at the Indian release of his latest book entitled, It Was Five Past Midnight in Bhopal, which recounts the horrors of the world's worst industrial disaster which killed thousands of people and left tens of thousands with serious medical problems.

The author told reporters that the Oscar-winning director, Oliver Stone, had said he was interested in making a film of the book.

He also said the Spanish screen star, Penelope Cruz, might play the role of the heroine - a poor Indian girl who gets married on the night of the disaster.

Earlier this year, Mr Lapierre opened a clinic in Bhopal to treat women suffering from cervical cancer and other gynaecological disorders as a result of their exposure to the toxic gas cloud.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service