Hiroshima toll revised to 2,17,137

Hiroshima (Japan), Aug. 6. Hiroshima on Sunday marked the 55th anniversary of the atomic inferno that obliterated the western Japanese city with silent prayers and a plea for nuclear disarmament.

About 50,000 people, including aging survivors of the blast and Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori, gathered at Hiroshima's Peace Park for a memorial ceremony near the spot where a US bomber dropped an atomic bomb on August 6, 1945.

Paper cranes symbolising peace were draped at numerous spots around the park while incense burned in prayer alters and tears flowed freely as people remembered the atomic bombing.

(Reuters photo shows doves fluttering above Hiroshima's Peace Memorial Park during a memorial service on the 55th anniversary of the world's first atomic bombing. The gutted A-bomb Dome is seen in the background.)

In a solemn ceremony attended by black-clad survivors of the blast, school children in their uniforms, Hiroshima residents and others, the names of 5,021 were added to the list of the dead, bringing the total to 2,17,137.

The new names are those of people who died recently and have been recognised by the city as victims of the bomb. A few thousands names of atomic bomb victims are added each year at the time of the anniversary.

The bomb dropped on Hiroshima killed some 140,000 people by the end of 1945, out of an estimated population of 350,000. Thousands more succumbed to illness and injuries later.

The city of Nagasaki was bombed three days after Hiroshima, leading to the surrender of Japan and the end of World War Two.

'Call to halt weapons'

Hiroshima Mayor Tadatoshi Akiba called for the immediate end of nuclear weapons. He also urged that what many people consider the most important event of the 20th century not be forgotten in the 21st century.

"We have to establish a way of expressing the memory of this event in the course of humanity and pass it on to the next generation," Akiba said.

The average age of atomic blast survivors is now 70, according to government figures.

Hundreds of survivors who were not strong enough to attend the ceremony watched from nursing homes in the city, clutching prayer beads as they watched proceedings on television.

Along the city's riverbanks, some elderly survivors had their own private moment to remember as they stared out at waterways that, 55 years ago, were choked with charred corpses.

Several hundred anti-nuclear activists staged a "die-in" in front of the domed building near Ground Zero that miraculously survived the blast. The group members lay on the ground near the building and called for an end to nuclear weapons.

Prime Minister Mori pledged to promote nuclear disarmament. He told reporters at the atomic bombing museum Japan was ready to submit a draft resolution to eliminate nuclear weapons at the upcoming U.N. General Assembly session.

The ceremony was marred slightly by a man in his twenties who jumped in front of the Prime Minister's car as he left the park for the atomic bombing museum.

Police said the man was held on suspicion of trying to assault the Prime Minister. His name has not been released.

- Reuters

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