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Nagasaki to remember 1945 US atomic bombing victims

A memorial ceremony will start at the Peace Park in Nagasaki at 11:02 local time (05:02 Moscow time) exactly at the time when a US B-29 strategic bomber dropped a "Fat Man" atomic bomb on the city

A square in Nagasaki AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko

A square in Nagasaki

© AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko

TOKYO, August 9 /TASS/. Commemorations of the 70th anniversary of the US atomic bombing of the Japanese port city of Nagasaki will take place in Japan on Sunday.

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A memorial ceremony will start at the Peace Park in Nagasaki at 11:02 local time (05:02 Moscow time) exactly at the time when a US B-29 strategic bomber dropped a "Fat Man" atomic bomb on the city on August 9, 1945. A minute of silence will be observed in Japan. Nagasaki Mayor Tomihisa Taue will read out a Declaration of Peace, which calls for total nuclear disarmament. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will also address the people of Nagasaki. By tradition, a flock of white doves - symbols of peace - will be released into the sky over the city.

The Nagasaki city administration said representatives of more than 80 countries would attend the memorial events this year. Rose Gottemoeller, U.S. Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security, as well as U.S. Ambassador to Japan Caroline Kennedy will represent the United States. Britain and France have also sent their delegations to Nagasaki. Russian embassy employees will represent Russia. An Iranian delegation is attending the commemorations for the first time.

Nagasaki became the second Japanese city after Hiroshima to be subject to US atomic bombings in August 1945.

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