Hiroshima Marks 55th Anniversary of A-Bombing

Hiroshima Marks 55th Anniversary of A-Bombing

The city of Hiroshima in southwestern Japan commemorated the 55th anniversary of its 1945 atomic bombing Friday, pledging to make a new start as a model city for world peace.

Some 50,000 people, including A-bomb victims, bereaved families, and dignitaries gathered at the Peace Memorial Park, near the hypocenter of the bombing, and prayed for those who died from the world's first atomic bombing more than five decades ago.

Japanese Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori, Hiroshima Mayor Tadatoshi Akiba, Hiroshima prefectural and municipal government officials, and Russian Ambassador to Japan Alexander Panov were present at the annual Peace Memorial Ceremony.

After holding a one-minute silent prayer at 8:15 a.m. (2315 GMTSaturday), the exact time of the blast, Akiba delivered an annual peace declaration.

"Having called on the world to abolish nuclear weapons, Hiroshima wishes to make a new start as a model city demonstrating the use of science and technology for human purposes ... We will create a 21st century in which Hiroshima's very existence formulates the substance of peace," Akiba said.

"On the international stage, Hiroshima aspires to serve as a mediator, actively creating reconciliation by helping to resolve conflict and animosity."

Mori also addressed the ceremony, welcoming the May agreement by a U.N. meeting to review the 1968 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) to promote the policy of nuclear disarmament.

"Furthermore, Japan has just issued a peace message from Okinawa after urging the leaders of other Group of Eight powers to reach an agreement to promote nuclear disarmament and nonproliferation in the July 21-23 summit, based on the results of the NPT meeting," Mori said.

At the start of the 50-minute ceremony, Akiba dedicated a new list of 5,021 names of atomic bomb victims who have died since August 6 last year, bringing the total number dead to 217,137.

The atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima on August 6, 1945, by the US B-29 bomber Enola Gay, killed an estimated 140,000 people by the end of that year.

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