(Baonghean.vn) - 72 years have passed, but the scenes of death and devastation in Hiroshima and Nagasaki after the US dropped two atomic bombs are still haunting pain for the Japanese people.
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| Under the orders of President Harry S Truman, at 8:15 a.m. (Hiroshima time) on August 6, 1945, the US military B-29 “Enola Gay” dropped the atomic bomb “Little Boy” on the center of Hiroshima city. The bomb contained about 60 kg of Uranium 235 and the equivalent of 13 kilotons and exploded about 600 m above the ground. It immediately killed at least 90,000 people. 90% of the houses in Hiroshima were destroyed or damaged. |
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| The atomic bomb named “Little Boy” was 3 meters long, 71 centimeters in diameter and weighed 4,000 kilograms. Its explosive power was equivalent to 13 to 16 thousand tons of TNT. |
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| An Australian engineer working in the port city of Kure captured images of a large plume of smoke rising from the explosion in the town of Yoshiura in Hiroshima. At the time of the bombing, Hiroshima was an important military and industrial city. |
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| Radiation and high-pressure shock waves spread out in all directions, burning tens of thousands of people and livestock. In an instant, buildings and vehicles melted. The 400-year-old city was reduced to ashes. |
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| Scenes of injured or dead locals lying on flattened streets, just hours after the US dropped "Little Boy" on Hiroshima. |
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| Despite being bandaged after their injuries, these residents had no idea that they were exposed to deadly levels of radiation from the nuclear bomb. The photo on the right shows injured residents walking along a street littered with bodies. |
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| Covered in injuries, a Japanese mother still breastfeeds her baby. |
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| All clocks found in Hiroshima stopped at 8:15 a.m., the time the atomic bomb "Little Boy" exploded. |
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| Concrete and steel melted. Within minutes, 75,000 people were dead or seriously injured, 65% of them children under the age of 9. The death toll continued to rise over the next few days due to radiation. |
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| For those lucky enough to survive, their health deteriorated dramatically. They lost their appetite, their hair fell out, and pale green spots appeared on their bodies. Blood flowed from their ears, nose, and mouth. |
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| Women do not marry for fear of giving birth to deformed children. Men cannot marry because no one wants to marry a woman who will only live a few years. |
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| The devastating bombing destroyed most of the city's structures, which served as a small logistics base for the Japanese military. Hiroshima was also the number one target for the atomic attack mission. The number two target was the city of Kokura, and the backup target was Nagasaki. |
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| Victims of the explosion lie in a military hospital in Hiroshima. Three days after the US military dropped the bomb on Nagasaki, Japan surrendered. Supporters of the bombings argue that the two explosions ended World War II months early, saving many lives. Critics, however, see the bombings as morally wrong and militarily unnecessary and unjustifiable. |
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| Japan commemorates the more than 140,000 people who died in the bombing every year. But the actual number of victims is much higher, as many survivors were exposed to radiation. |
Peace
(Synthetic)
