65 years later, revisiting Hiroshima

65 years ago, Hiroshima woke up to a calm and sunny Monday morning, the city bustling with early-morning activity. But that morning went down in history as perhaps the bloodiest and most devastating mornings the world witnessed.

At around 8.15 am, a US Air Force B-29 bomber named Enola Gay, released 'Little Boy', its 9,700-pound uranium bomb, over the city.

Seconds later, a huge explosion lit the Hiroshima morning sky and hid the city under an awful dark cloud beneath which around 140,000 innocent lives were lost and millions were scarred for life - a scar that they passed on to their successive generations as well.

A look at Hiroshima as the world gets together on the 65th anniversary of the atomic bombings that rocked the Japanese city. (Photo: AP/AFP)

On Friday, Hiroshima marked its biggest memorial yet and the first to be attended by the US and other major nuclear powers. The site of the world's worst atomic bomb attack echoed with choirs of schoolchildren and the solemn ringing of bells. (Photo: AP/AFP)

Along with the US, Britain and France also made their first official appearance at the memorial. Altogether, 74 nations were represented. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said that the time has come to move from "Ground Zero, to Global Zero" -- a world without any nuclear arms. (Photo: AP/AFP)

Hiroshima was careful to ensure that the memorial, while honoring the 140,000 who died on or soon after the attack on August 6, 1945 emphasized a look-forward approach, focussing not on whether the bombing was justified, a point which many Japanese dispute, but on averting a future nuclear attack. (Photo: AP/AFP)

US Air Force B-29 bomber Enola Gay made a safe landing on an airstrip on Tinian in the Mariana Islands after wreaking havoc on the city of Hiroshima. The aircraft landed safely, but the danger that it left lurking on millions in Hiroshima was unfathomable.

Here is the destruction that the US uranium bomb, ironically called 'Little Boy', had caused in the Japanese city. (AFP Photo)

Smoke billowed 20,000 feet above Hiroshima following the world's first atomic bombing. Those closest to the explosion died instantly, their bodies turned to black char. (AFP Photo)

Hiroshima was an important military centre during the second World War and housed around 40,000 Japanese soldiers.

'Little Boy' detonated directly over a parade field where soldiers of the Japanese Second Army were present. (AFP Photo)

Nearly every structure within one mile of Ground Zero was destroyed, and almost every building within three miles was damaged. (AFP Photo)

Around 140,000 people died in Hiroshima, either instantly or later through the horrific effects of burns from the white-hot nuclear blast and radiation sickness. (AFP Photo)

Small ad hoc rescue parties soon began to operate, but roughly half of the city's population was dead or injured. (AP Photo)

By July about a quarter of all the houses in Japan had been destroyed, and the transportation system was near collapse. (AFP Photo)

This photo dated 1948 shows children wearing masks to protect themselves from radiation in the devastated city of Hiroshima nearly three years after the US bombing at the end of World War II. (AFP Photo)

Apart from the moral questions involved, many have debated whether the use of the bomb was necessary to achieve victory in the war in the Pacific on terms satisfactory to the United States as Japan already had been defeated militarily by June 1945. (AFP Photo)

Japan surrendered to Allied forces on September 2, 1945, bringing down the curtain on the costliest conflict in history. (AP Photo)

It has been 65 years since the annihilating attack on Hiroshima. Today, many hope that this anniversary of the deadly attack will mark a turning point, and see the world renounce nuclear weapons for good. (AFP Photo)