80 years since atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
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Japan has so far recognised the total number of deaths from the atomic bombings in August 1945 as 344,306 in Hiroshima and 198,785 in Nagasaki, as at August 2024.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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TOKYO - Aug 6 marks the 80th anniversary of the dropping of the first atomic bomb.
The following are some facts about the bombing of the Japanese city of Hiroshima and a second attack on Nagasaki three days later – the only times that nuclear weapons have been used in war.
Japan surrendered on Aug 15, 1945, ending its role in World War II.
Hiroshima
At 8.15am on Aug 6, 1945, an American B-29 Superfortress bomber named Enola Gay dropped a 10,000-pound uranium 235 bomb, instantly killing about 78,000 people.
By the end of that year, the death toll reached about 140,000.
The bomb, nicknamed Little Boy, exploded about 580m above the centre of the city, setting off a surge of heat reaching 4,000 deg C across a radius of about 4.5km.
More than half of the city’s buildings lay in ruins.
Nagasaki
At 11.02am on Aug 9, 1945, the United States dropped a 10,000-pound plutonium 239 bomb, nicknamed Fat Man.
It exploded about 500m above the ground, instantly killing about 27,000 of the city’s estimated population of around 200,000.
By the end of 1945, the number of people dead due to acute radiation exposure reached about 70,000.
Total killed
Japan has so far recognised the total number of deaths from the bombings, including from radiation illness and injuries, as 344,306 in Hiroshima (as at Aug 6, 2024) and 198,785 in Nagasaki (as at Aug 9, 2024). REUTERS
