Surviving the bomb

Harrowing stories of people who lived through Hiroshima and Nagasaki

- HANNAH DAVIES, RICHARD MCCLURE, IAN MACEWAN

NEW FACTUAL Atomic People Wednesday, 9pm, BBC2

In one of the most destructive moments in world history, the United States dropped an atomic bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima at exactly 8.16am on 6 August 1945. It was the first time the weapon had been deployed in an act of war.

Three days later, a second bomb was dropped on another Japanese city, Nagasaki. In total, 120,000 people were killed instantly, but radiation exposure saw the death toll rise to 214,000 within a matter of months.

Now, nearly 80 years later, this 90-minute film hears from the survivors, known in Japan as hibakusha, as they recall what happened under the mushroom cloud that day. With an average age of 85, most were just children, and many lost loved ones and have suffered lasting trauma.