Dow impersonator dupes BBC World

BBC WORLD said on Friday that it was duped in an ‘‘elaborate deception’’ by a man who claimed to be a Dow Chemical spokesman and said in an interview that the US company accepted responsibility for the Bhopal disaster. The channel, after twice running the interview with a man identified as Jude Finisterra, later said the report was wrong. A spokesperson for Dow Chemical in Switzerland also confirmed that the report was wrong.

The man’s identity could not be confirmed and his motives were not immediately clear. BBC officials were not readily available to provide details about the incident. ‘‘We apologize to Dow and to anyone who watched the interview who may have been misled by it,’’ the BBC said in a statement read out during a subsequent news bulletin.

The statements by the man to the BBC, had they been true, would have marked a major reversal for Dow Chemical, which has maintained it was not responsible for the Bhopal disaster two decades ago.

Dow shares declined 3.4 per cent to 37 euros in Frankfurt.