70th Hiroshima Day observed to commemorate dropping of Atomic bomb on Hiroshima

6 August: Hiroshima Day

70th Hiroshima Day was observed on 6 August 2015. The day was marked by adding of names of survivors of the explosion called the hibakusha, who died in previous 12 months, on the cenotaph of the Peace Memorial Park. With this, total number of dead ones listed on the cenotaph reached 292325.

The day is observed to commemorate 6 August 1945, the day when an American Boeing B-29 Superfortress bomber, named the Enola Gay, dropped an atomic bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima. The plane Enola Gay that dropped the bomb was named after the mother of the plane’s pilot, Colonel Paul Tibbets.

It was the world’s first atom bomb to be dropped any where across the world. The 16 kiloton atomic bomb that was dropped during the final stages of World War II on the city was nicknamed as Little Boy.

The incident claimed lives of approximately 80000 people and injured about 35000. At least another 60000 died by the end of the year from the effects of the fallout.

The explosion that occurred 580 meters (2000 ft) above the T-shaped Bridge at the junction of the Honkawa and Motoyasu rivers was equal to 12000 to 15000 tonnes of TNT. The explosion destroyed more than two-thirds of Hiroshima’s buildings across five sq miles.
 
The day, 6 August 1945, was followed by another drop on the city of Nagasaki on 9 August 1945.

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