Japan

Hiroshima remembers nuclear bomb victims

Article published on the 2009-08-06 Latest update 2009-08-06 08:25 TU

A woman places a flower for atomic bomb victims in front of a cenotaph at the Peace Memorial Park in Hiroshima, Japan on 5 August 2009
(Photo: Reuters/Issei Kato)

The mayor of Hiroshima called for the abolition of nuclear weapons on Thursday, 64 years to the day that the Japanese city was hit by the world’s first atomic bomb attack.

The blast of “Little Boy” and its mushroom cloud killed some 140,000 people. Many died instantly but others succumbed to the effects of radiation and severe burns in the following weeks.

About 50,000 people, including hibakusha or nuclear bomb survivors, gathered near the A-bomb Dome - the skeletal remains of a hall gutted by the bomb - to mark the anniversary. The memorial service fell silent at 8:15 am local time - the exact moment the bomb was dropped in 1945.

Hiroshima’s mayor Tadatoshi Akiba used the occasion to call for the abolition of the world's remaining 24,000 nuclear warheads by 2020.

"The abolition of nuclear weapons is the will not only of the hibakusha but also of the vast majority of people and nations on this planet," he said.

Akiba, who is also head of the international group Mayors for Peace, praised US President Barack Obama for a speech in Prague this year in which he said that the United States, as the only country ever to have used an atomic weapon, had “a moral responsibility” to work towards their abolition.

Japan's Prime Minister Taro Aso told the ceremony that the country would be a frontrunner in the international community in “abolishing nuclear weapons and realising eternal peace."

He also promised more support for survivors of the bombing, who have fought court battles to earn recognition as hibakusha and financial aid.

Three days after the attack on Hiroshima, the United States dropped a second nuclear bomb on Nagasaki, which killed 70,000 people. Japan surrendered on August 15, ending World War II in the Pacific.