WI: Aum Shinrikyo Attack(s) Much Worse

In January 1995, a Japanese newspaper revealed that a sarin compound had been found in an Aum Shinrikyo facility in Kamikuishiki. The cult leadership panicked and ordered the destruction of their stockpile of chemical weapons and precursors, because they thought they were going to be raided by the police. This included 20 liters of sarin of relatively high purity. Then, in March, when they decided to launch the subway attacks, they had only a small amount of precursors on hand that had been hidden instead of being destroyed, and were only able to produce 6-7 liters of sarin of about 30% purity. So, with a small PoD, they would have had a lot more sarin than they did IOTL. And their dispersal mechanism was poking holes in a bag of sarin liquid with an umbrella and then running - they could have developed a much more effective method.

Historically, only 13 people died in the Tokyo subway attack. It seems frighteningly plausible that, if the cult had been a little more skilled or a little luckier, they could have killed a whole lot more. What if they did? How bad could it get, and what would be the consequences?
 
The cult also experimented with botulinum and anthrax, and even attempted to deploy them, but their product turned out to be ineffective, for reasons that aren't entirely clear. (In one memorable incident, a cult member fell into a fermentation vat for C. Botulinum and almost drowned, without showing any signs of poisoning). One plausible explanation is that they obtained the wrong, non-toxic strain of the pathogens. What if they'd gotten the right ones?
 
Wikipedia said:
On the evening of 5 May, a burning paper bag was discovered in a toilet in Tokyo's busy Shinjuku station. Upon examination it was revealed that it was a hydrogen cyanide device which, had it not been extinguished in time, would have released enough gas into the ventilation system to potentially kill 10,000 commuters.[36] Several undetonated cyanide devices were found at other locations in the Tokyo subway.[citation needed]

well, if this device was not discovered in time, it could potentially much worse. it's very scary though, because as far as I know, shinjuku station is a large station.
 
Aum Shinrikyo had a nuclear weapons program. If they had managed to construct one, and detonate it somewhere with plenty of people...:eek:
 
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