Hiroshima Day: "Free the world of nuclear weapons," UN chief's appeal
Hiroshima Day: On August 6, 75 years ago the world changed - a US warplane dropped the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima in Japan killing 1,40,000 people. At 8:15 am, on the ill-fated day, a US B-29 warplane, Enola Gay, dropped a bomb nicknamed "Little Boy" and destroyed the city and its people. Thousands more died later from injuries and radiation-related illnesses. Three days later, on August 9, a second nuclear bomb - 'Fat Man' - was dropped on Nagasaki. Japan surrendered two weeks later, ending World War Two.
These are the only two nuclear bombs ever to have been used apart from testing.
Thousands usually visit the Peace Park in Hiroshima to pray, sing and offer paper cranes as a symbol of peace but this year fewer people were there as entrance was sharply limited and only survivors and their families could attend the memorial ceremony. As the Peace Bell sounded, the people stood to observe a moment of silence at the exact time the bomb exploded.
United Nations chief, Antonio Guterres, in a tweet said, "...May the suffering, stories and resilience of survivors unite us in action to free the world of nuclear weapons."
"On the 75th anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, let's recall and reaffirm our commitment to peace," the UNESCO tweeted.
International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) wrote, "We remember the victims of the dawn of nuclear weapons age in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and we honour the survivors who seek the sunset of that age by joining in their fight to ban nuclear weapons...".
Hiroshima Day quotes and images
"I was profoundly moved to be the first United Nations Secretary-General to attend the Peace Memorial Ceremony in Hiroshima. I also visited Nagasaki. Sadly, we know the terrible humanitarian consequences from the use of even one weapon. As long as such weapons exist, so, too, will the risks of use and proliferation" - Ban Ki-moon
"Japan learned from the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki that the tragedy wrought by nuclear weapons must never be repeated and that humanity and nuclear weapons cannot coexist" - Daisaku Ikeda
"Since Auschwitz, we know what man is capable of. And since Hiroshima, we know what is at stake" - Viktor E. Frankl
"We are still living in the aftershock of Hiroshima, people are still the scars of history" - Edward Bond
(Inputs from Reuters)