Hiroshima remembers victims on 80th anniversary of atomic bombing

A ceremony was held on Wednesday at the Peace Memorial Park, where Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, the city’s mayor and other officials laid flowers at the cenotaph. A minute of silence was observed at 8:15 a.m., the exact time the bomb struck on 6 August 1945. White doves were released following the mayor’s speech. The bombing killed 140,000 people in Hiroshima, followed by a second strike on Nagasaki that claimed 70,000 lives. Japan surrendered days later, ending World War II. Fewer than 100,000 survivors of the atomic bombings are still alive today.