Japan: Hiroshima marks 80th anniversary of the US atomic bombing

Visitors near the Atomic Bomb Dome on the eve of the 80th anniversary, on Tuesday. PIC/AFP

Hiroshima on Wednesday marked the 80th anniversary of the US atomic bombing of the western Japanese city, with many aging survivors expressing frustration about growing support among global leaders for nuclear weapons possession for deterrence.

With the number of survivors rapidly declining and their average age now exceeding 86, the anniversary is considered the last milestone event for many of them. The bombing of Hiroshima on August 6, 1945, destroyed the city, killing 1,40,000 people. A second bomb dropped three days later on Nagasaki killed 70,000 more.

Japan surrendered on August 15, ending World War II and Japan's nearly half-century of aggression in Asia. Survivors and their families, along with representatives from a record 120 countries and regions, including Russia and Belarus, were expected to attend and observe a minute of silence with the sound of a peace bell at 8:15 am, the time when a US B-29 dropped the bomb on the city.

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