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Remembering Hiroshima
06/08/2005 09:03 - (SA)
Hiroshima - Tens of thousands of people gathered in Hiroshima on Saturday to mark the 60th anniversary of the world's first atomic bomb attack with a moment of silence and offerings of flowers and water.
More than 55 000 people joined in the austere ceremony in Peace Memorial Park, a sprawling, tree-covered expanse that for one day each year becomes the spiritual epicentre of the global anti-nuclear movement.
A moment of silence was observed at 08:15, the instant of the blast. Flowers and water - symbolising the suffering of those who died in the atomic inferno - were offered at a simple, arch-shaped stone monument at the center of the park.
About 140 000 people were killed instantly or died within a few months after the Enola Gay dropped its deadly payload over the city, which then had a population of about 350 000.
Three days later, another United States bomber, Bock's Car, dropped a plutonium bomb on the city of Nagasaki, killing about 80 000 people. Japan surrendered on August 15 1945, bringing World War II to a close.
- AP
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