«9 August 1945 at 11:200 hours the sky over Nagasaki lit up brightly and the hands of all clocks stopped. A giant mushroom cloud soared into the blue sky. What happened? What will happen to people? The ruins of destroyed temples, burnt clothes, melted glass still serve as a reminder of that terrible day. We will always continue to write messages of peace from Nagasaki, messages from those who survived through incredible trials. We hope that the people of Earth will unite their hands and hearts in the name of a nuclear-weapon-free life».
These few lines of the official message, posted on the website of the Nagasaki City Hall, express all the pain and hope of the Japanese people for a nuclear-free future.
Today at exactly 11 o'clock 2 minutes the city will calm down — after the bell hits it will bow its head in a minute of silence. It was at this time that on August 9, 1945, at an altitude of about 500 meters, the explosion of the «Fat» atomic bomb, dropped by an American B-29 bomber on the city of Nagasaki, occurred. Then from 60 to 80 thousand people were injured from the bombing, the power of the explosion was 21 kilotons.
According to a report from Nagasaki Prefecture, «people and animals died almost instantly» at a distance of up to 1 km from the epicenter. Almost all houses within a radius of two kilometers were destroyed, and dry, flammable materials, such as paper, ignited at a distance of up to three kilometers from the epicenter. Of the 52,000 buildings in Nagasaki, 14,000 were destroyed and another 5,400 — were seriously damaged. Only 12% of buildings remained intact. Although no fire tornado occurred in the city, numerous local fires were observed.
Residents of Nagasaki traditionally come to the ceremony commemorating the atomic bombing in Peace Park. Among the guests are also representatives of the Japanese government and the delegation of the city of Hiroshima, which was the first to experience the horror of the atomic strike on August 6, 1945.
Japan is still feeling the consequences of those terrible bombings – today, about a quarter of a million citizens of the country have the official status of victims. Every year on August 6 and 9, the victims of one of the most terrible tragedies in human history are remembered throughout the country.