Nagasaki marks 80 years since A-bomb, survivors put hopes of nuclear ban in hands of youth

The United States launched the Nagasaki attack on Aug. 9, 1945, killing 70,000 by the end of that year, three days after the bombing of Hiroshima that killed 140,000.

The southern Japanese city of Nagasaki on Saturday marked 80 years since the U.S. atomic attack that killed tens of thousands and left survivors who hope their harrowing memories can help make their hometown the last place on Earth to be hit by a nuclear bomb.

The United States launched the Nagasaki attack on Aug. 9, 1945, killing 70,000 by the end of that year, three days after the bombing of Hiroshima that killed 140,000. Japan surrendered on Aug. 15, 1945, ending the Second World War and the nearly half-century of aggression by the country across Asia.

About 2,600 people, including representatives from more than 90 countries, attended a memorial event at Nagasaki Peace Park, where Mayor Shiro Suzuki and Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba spoke, among other guests.

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.

“Even after the war ended, the atomic bomb brought invisible terror,” 93-year-old survivor Hiroshi Nishioka said in his speech at the memorial, noting that many who had survived without severe wounds started bleeding from gums and losing hair and died.

“Never use nuclear weapons again, or we’re finished,” he said.

Dozens of doves, a symbol of peace, were released after a speech by Suzuki, whose parents are survivors of the attack.

He said that the city’s memories of the bombing are “a common heritage and should be passed down for generations” in and outside Japan.