Don't forget lessons of Hiroshima

REMAINING FEW SURVIVORS' PLEA TO WORLD

- BY MATTHEW YOUNG

KNEELING before the cenotaph, 94-year-old Minoru Suzuto was among thousands who yesterday marked the 80th anniversary of the US atomic bombing of Hiroshima.

He is one of the dwindling number of ageing survivors, many of whom argue their message of peace remains just as urgent today given the growing support for nuclear weapons as a deterrence.

"There will be nobody left to pass on this sad and painful experience in 10 years or 20 years," Minoru said. "That's why I want to share as much as I can."

The average age of survivors - known as hibakusha - is now 86, and yesterday was seen as a last milestone event for many of them as they reminded those watching of the human toll.

Yoshie Yokoyama was just 16 years old when her world and the world changed forever. Now 96 and a wheelchair user, she visited the park early with her grandson to remember her parents and grandparents who died as a result of the attack.

"My grandfather died soon after the bombing, while my father and mother died after developing cancer," she said.

"My parents-in-law also died, so my husband couldn't see them again when he came back from the battlefield. People are still suffering."

The bombing of Hiroshima on August 6, 1945, destroyed two-thirds of its buildings and wiped out 80,000 people, while a second bomb dropped three days later on Nagasaki claimed 40,000.