TOKYO (Sputnik) – The memorial ceremony started with a moment of silence at 8:15 local time on Thursday (23:15 GMT on Wednesday) in Hiroshima’s Peace Memorial Park. The time is when the US atomic bomb detonated about 600 meters (about 2,000 feet) above Hiroshima on August 6, 1945.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and US Ambassador to Japan Caroline Bouvier Kennedy are among the tens of thousands attending the event.
The world marks Hiroshima Day and the International Day of Nuclear Disarmament on August 6. On that day in 1945, the US Air Force dropped atomic bomb "Little Boy" on Hiroshima. Another bomb, "Fat Man" was dropped on the Japanese city of Nagasaki on August 9.
The two US bombings are the only use of nuclear weapons for warfare in human history. Days after the bombings, Japan announced its surrender to the Allies, paving way to the end of World War II.
