Nagasaki: The Japanese city of Nagasaki on Sunday marked its 75th anniversary of the U.S. atomic bombing, with the mayor and dwindling survivors urging world leaders including their own to do more for a nuclear weapons ban.
At 11:02 a.m. local time, the moment the B-29 bomber Bockscar dropped a 4.5-ton (10,000-pound) plutonium bomb dubbed "Fat Man," Nagasaki survivors and other participants stood in a minute of silence to honour more than 70,000 people dead.
Nagasaki Mayor Tomihisa Taue read a peace declaration in which he raised concern about a growing global opinion supportive of nuclear deterrence.
Taue also urged Japan's government and lawmakers to quickly sign the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, saying the threat of nuclear arms is growing more than ever.
Japan has not signed the treaty, saying it seeks a role to bridge gaps between nuclear and non-nuclear states so they have a common ground for dialogue.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was present at the ceremony and laid a flower wreath to remember the victims.
During his speech, Abe said that the 'unchanged' mission of Japan is to ''move forward step by step the efforts of the international community towards realizing a world without nuclear weapons."
On August 9, 1945, bombing came three days after the United States dropped its first atomic bomb on Hiroshima, the world's first-ever nuclear attack that killed 140,000.
On August 15, Japan surrendered, ending World War II.
Many survivors developed cancer or other illnesses due to their exposure to radiation and suffered discrimination.
Sunday's ceremony was scaled down because of a rise in coronavirus cases in Japan.
(AP REPORT)
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