6 August 2014 marks the 69th anniversary of nuclear attack on Hiroshima, Japan. © indiascanner
HIROSHIMA, JAPAN: Today, 6 August 2014, marks the 69th anniversary of nuclear attack on Hiroshima. An American B-29 bomber named Enola Gay dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima on August 6, 1945, in one of the final chapters of World War II. It had killed an estimated 140,000 by December that year. Three days later, the port city of Nagasaki was also bombed, killing an estimated 70,000 people. Japan surrendered on August 15, 1945, bringing the war to a close.
This was the first ever nuclear weapon used and marked an important landmark in the history of science, but a start of destruction to mankind. The explosive power was equivalent to 18.6 kilo tonne of trinitrotoluene (TNT). It grew to a height of more than 12 kilometre, boiling up in the shape of a mushroom. Forty seconds later, the blast of air from the bomb reached the observation bunkers, along with a long and deafening roar of sound.
Thousands of people will gather for peace ceremonies on 6 August 2014 marking the 69th anniversary of the US atomic bombing of the city, as anti-nuclear sentiment runs high in Japan.
© AFP News