Japan commemorates victims of Hiroshima bombing with a minute of silence
Residents of Japan honored the memory of the victims of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima with a minute of silence. The memorial ceremony is taking place in the Peace Park in the city center, TASS reports.
A minute of silence was announced across the country at 8:15 am local time, at which point the bomb exploded on August 6, 1945.
Then the Mayor of Hiroshima Kazumi Matsui read out a declaration of peace. He called on world leaders to support the Nuclear Weapons Ban Treaty.
“This year, on January 22, the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons entered into force. It now remains for world leaders to support this treaty, shifting the focus to a sustainable, nuclear-weapon-free society. Nuclear weapons, designed to win wars, carry the threat of total annihilation. We can end it if all nations work together, ”said Kazumi Matsui.
Due to coronavirus restrictions, commemorative events are held in a truncated format. Russia is represented by the Consul General in the city of Osaka, Alexander Terskikh. In total, about 800 people take part in them, including official representatives of more than 80 countries.
There will be no separate minute of silence within the framework of the Olympic Games, which are being held in Tokyo on these dates. The International Olympic Committee explained this by the fact that athletes pay tribute to the memory of the victims of various tragedies in the history of mankind as part of the closing ceremony of the Games.
An atomic bomb explosion over Hiroshima killed 70,000 to 100,000 people in one day. By the end of 1945, the number of victims had risen to 140,000.
