Hiroshima And Nagasaki Day 2020: History Of Nuclear Attack On Hiroshima And Nagasaki

Japan on Thursday completed 75 years since it first suffered the world's first atomic bomb attack on the city of Hiroshima, followed three days later by the second and last on Nagasaki, leading to the end of world war II at the cost of over 2,00,000 lives and unimaginable loss of property.  

On August 6, 1945, a US B-29 warplane, named Enola Gay, unleashed a bomb nicknamed "Little Boy" on Japan's southwestern city of Hiroshima, killing 140,000, and leaving lakhs injured, many of whom died in coming years.

 Temperatures near the blast reached an estimated 7,000 degrees Celsius (12,600 Fahrenheit), which caused fatal burns within a radius of about three kilometres.

On August 9, the United States dropped another bomb, named "Fat Man", on the city of Nagasaki, killing more than 75,000 people.

The historic pictures of the tragic incident show that huge blast led to a mushroom cloud, which grew as high as 9,000 metres (30,000 feet).

Japan surrendered six days later, ending World War Two.

The two bomb attacks remain the only time atomic bombs have been used in wartime.

In previous years, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and the city mayors attended annual memorial services and renewed pledges for a nuclear-free world. Bells tolled and a minute's silence was observed at the exact time the bombs detonated in both cities.

Commemorations this year will be scaled back due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with fewer seats and video messages from dignitaries.