TOKYO, August 6. /TASS/. Japan will hold commemorative events on the 79th anniversary of the American atomic bombing of Hiroshima.
The main event will be a ceremony at the Peace Memorial Park in Hiroshima, which will be attended by Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.
At 08:15 a.m. local time (11:15 p.m. GMT) - the exact moment the bomb exploded in 1945 - a minute of silence will be announced throughout the country, usually counted by the ringing of a bell. After that Kishida and Hiroshima Mayor Kazumi Matsui will deliver speeches in the park.
The US Armed Forces carried out the first-ever atomic bombing in history, striking the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki toward the tail end of World War II. The bombings were justified as a way to accelerate the capitulation of the Empire of Japan. These attacks are the sole instance of nuclear weapons ever being used in a military conflict in the history of humanity.
According to various estimates, the explosion of the atomic bomb dropped over Hiroshima, in one day killed between 70,000 and 100,000 people. By the end of 1945, the number of victims had increased to 140,000 due to those who died in hospitals from wounds and radiation.
Every year this sad list is replenished when a survivor dies. Almost 5,000 new names have been added to this list over the past year. Besides that, the names of those people who died during the blast but whose death has not been confirmed until now are added to the list. Currently, the total number of victims is about 350,000.