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People pray in Peace Memorial Park to mark the 76th anniversary of the US bombing of Hiroshima
Photo: - / dpa
8.15 a.m.
At that time, the US bomber "Enola Gay" dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima on August 6, 1945, killing around 140,000 people.
The atomic bombing of Nagasaki followed three days later.
At this time the participants held a silent prayer at a small ceremony in Hiroshima.
On Friday, the first atomic bomb attack in history was commemorated there 76 years ago.
Survivors, relatives, politicians and dignitaries attended the main event in the Japanese city to commemorate the victims and call for world peace.
For the second year in a row, the commemoration due to the corona pandemic took place on a relatively small scale.
The ceremony was broadcast online.
IOC decided against a minute's silence
Meanwhile, the Olympic Games continued in Tokyo.
Hiroshima's request to keep a minute's silence during the Games was rejected by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) headed by Thomas Bach.
Japan's Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga gave a speech at the memorial ceremony.
He later apologized for apparently inadvertently skipping part of the text alleged to be about Japan's support for international nuclear disarmament.
43-year-old Yoko Sado, who was walking through the Peace Memorial Park with her seven-year-old son, was disappointed with the few participants in the ceremony.
Hiroshima missed the chance to spread a message of peace.
"It would have been a great opportunity," she told the AFP news agency.
The organizers in Hiroshima had previously been disappointed that the commemoration at the Olympic Games in Tokyo was ignored.
IOC boss Thomas Bach had traveled to Hiroshima before the games started.
However, he was accused of using the trip for PR purposes.
IOC spokesman Mark Adams said there will be a segment during the Olympic graduation ceremony on Sunday to commemorate victims of tragedies such as those in Hiroshima.
50 countries have signed the prohibition treaty
This year's ceremony in Hiroshima to commemorate the victims was the first since the entry into force of an international treaty banning nuclear weapons.
Last year 50 countries ratified the prohibition treaty.
It prohibits the use, development, production and storage of nuclear weapons and the threat of their use.
However, it has not been signed by any country that actually has nuclear weapons.
Japan has also refused to sign the treaty, believing that the agreement has no weight without the consent of states in possession of nuclear weapons.
lau / dpa / AFP