Published: August 06, 2020 11:24:28
New Delhi, Delhi, India
Japan on Thursday marked 75 years since the world’s first atomic bomb attack, which killed around 140,000 people in Hiroshima and left many more deeply traumatised and even stigmatised. A second bomb was dropped on Nagasaki on August 9, 1945, killing another 74,000 people.
The first atomic bomb was dropped on the western city of Hiroshima on August 6, 1945 by the US bomber Enola Gay. The bomb was nicknamed “Little Boy” but its impact was anything but small. (Photo credit: AFP)When the bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, the first thing people noticed was an “intense ball of fire” according to the International Committee of the Red Cross. (Photo credit: AFP)Temperatures near the blast reached an estimated 7,000 degrees Celsius, which caused fatal burns within a radius of about three kilometres. (Photo credit: AFP)The bomb attacks unleashed radiation that proved deadly both immediately and over the longer term. Radiation sickness was reported in the attack’s aftermath by many who survived the initial blast and firestorm. (Photo credit: AFP)The bomb attacks unleashed radiation that proved deadly both immediately and over the longer term. Radiation sickness was reported in the attack’s aftermath by many who survived the initial blast and firestorm. (Photo credit: AFP)This file photo taken 06 August 1945 shows smoke billowing 20,000 feet above Hiroshima,Japan while smoke from the burst of the first atomic bomb had spread over 10,000 feet on the target at the base of the rising column. (Photo credit: AFP)Bomb survivors, known as “hibakusha”, also experienced longer-term effects including elevated risks of thyroid cancer and leukaemia, and both Hiroshima and Nagasaki have seen elevated cancer rates.(Photo credit: AFP)Combo of file pictures dated 1945 of the devastated city of Hiroshima before and after the first atomic bomb was dropped by a US Air Force B-29, 06 August 1945.(Photo credit: AFP)
