A bereaved family member prays for the victims of U.S. atomic bombing at the Atomic Bomb Hypocenter Park in Nagasaki, southern Japan, Sunday, Aug. 9, 2020. Nagasaki marked the 75th anniversary of the atomic bombing on Sunday. (Kyodo News via AP)
TOKYO — 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., 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 honor more than 70,000 dead.
The Aug. 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 Aug. 15, Japan surrendered, ending World War II.
Many survivors developed cancer or other illnesses due to their exposure to radiation and suffered discrimination.