Why images of Hiroshima nuclear bombing still haunt us
Half a century after the US dropped nuclear bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, leading to a disaster that claimed more than two lakh lives, thousands of Japanese marked the moment of the blast with a minute's silence and bell toll at the Hiroshima Peace Park on Thursday. Hiroshima Mayor Kazumi Matsui called for abolishing the use of nuclear weapons, terming them "the absolute evil and ultimate inhumanity". Read more here.
| Civilians pay homage to the victims of the tragedy with the toll of a bell at the Hiroshima Peace Park. |
The US had led the deadly attack after a fierce battle for Japan's southernmost Okinawan islands. The disaster killed 2,00,000 Japanese, about half civilians and 12,520 American lives.
Some pictures taken in the aftermath of the tragedy:
| The US bomb 'Little Boy' alone killed 1,40,000 people during the war. |
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| A panoramic view of the disaster site at Hiroshima. |
*Pictures of the tragedy are sourced from the Internet/Associated Press/Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum.