Photo Special: Hiroshima Anniversary

The Anniversary Of The Hiroshima Bombings

64 years ago at 8:15am on Monday 6 August 1945 a nuclear weapon nicknamed Little Boy was dropped on the Japanese city of Hiroshima.

The bomb was dropped by the crew of the Enola Gay, an American B-29 Superfortress bomber, named after the mother of the pilot, Lt Col Paul Tibbets.

An estimated 80,000 people died immediately with tens of thousands more dying from horrific burns and radiation exposure, bringing the death toll to 140,000.

Approximately 70% of the city’s buildings were destroyed as you’ll see in the 36 picture gallery below.

The world’s first nuclear attack was followed by the dropping of a second atomic bomb on the city of Nagasaki three days later, leaving another 70,000 people dead.

Read the amazing story of Tsutomu Yamaguchi, one of the only people who survived not only the Hiroshima bombing, but the obliteration of Nagasaki three days later.

Posted on August 6, 2009 | Filed Under Life