Nagasaki marks 80th A-bomb anniversary

Nagasaki is marking the US atomic attack on the southern Japanese city 80 years ago and survivors are working to make their hometown the last place on earth hit by the bomb.

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The atomic bomb dropped by the United States on Nagasaki on Aug. 9, 1945, killed some 70,000 people, three days after the bombing of Hiroshima killed 140,000. Japan surrendered on Aug. 15, 1945, ending World War II and the country’s nearly half-century of aggression across Asia.

About 2,600 people, including representatives from more than 90 countries, attended a memorial event Saturday at Nagasaki Peace Park, where Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba spoke. At 11:02 a.m., the exact time when the plutonium bomb exploded above Nagasaki, participants observed a moment of silence as a bell rang.

Dozens of doves, a symbol of peace, were released after a speech by Nagasaki Mayor Shiro Suzuki, whose parents are survivors of the attack. He said the city’s memories of the bombing are “a common heritage and should be passed down for generations” in and outside Japan.

“The existential crisis of humanity has become imminent to each and every one of us living on Earth,” Suzuki said. “In order to make Nagasaki the last atomic bombing site now and forever, we will go hand-in-hand with global citizens and devote our utmost efforts toward the abolition of nuclear weapons and the realization of everlasting world peace.”