Hiroshima commemorated today, Wednesday, the 80th anniversary of the atomic bombing carried out by the United States, holding a memorial ceremony attended by representatives from over 100 countries. A moment of silence was observed during the exact time the bomb was dropped on the southern Japanese city.
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Prior to the moment of silence, many participants laid wreaths of flowers at the memorial site dedicated to the victims.
On this solemn occasion, Hiroshima once again urged world leaders to take action toward eliminating nuclear weapons.
Kazumi Matsui, the Mayor of Hiroshima, stated:
“The United States and Russia possess 90% of the world’s nuclear warheads. Amid the ongoing war in Ukraine and tensions in the Middle East, we are witnessing a rapid trend toward military buildup across the globe.”
He added:
“Some leaders still believe that nuclear weapons are essential for national defense, blatantly ignoring the lessons that should have been learned from the tragedies of the past. Such thinking threatens to undermine efforts to promote peace.”
Representatives from 120 countries and regions, including the United States — which has never issued an official apology for the attack — and the European Union, participated in the ceremony. A similar memorial will be held in Nagasaki this Saturday, with a record number of countries expected to attend.
On the morning of August 6, 1945, at exactly 8:15 AM, a U.S. military aircraft dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, killing approximately 140,000 people.
Three days later, the U.S. dropped another nuclear bomb on the southern city of Nagasaki, resulting in around 74,000 deaths.
These two bombings, believed to have hastened the end of World War II, remain the only instances in history where nuclear weapons were used during wartime.
