Hiroshima Marks 64th Nuclear Anniversary

Hiroshima has marked the 64th anniversary of the US atomic bombing of the Japanese city by backing calls by American President Barack Obama for a nuclear-free world.

Tadatoshi Akiba, Hiroshima's mayor, welcomed the commitment at Thursday's ceremony to commemorate the victims of the attack on August 6, 1945, Aljazeera.net reports.

The "Little Boy" atomic bomb was dropped on the city 64 years ago after US President Harry Truman gave the executive order to bomb areas in Japan.

Around 140,000 were killed by a combination of the explosion and more as a result of burn injuries, radiation sickness and malnutrition.

Since then more people have died from leukaemia and cancer as a result of exposure to radiation.

The Peace and Neutrality Alliance is holding a commemoration ceremony in Merrion Square in Dublin this afternoon.

Chairman Roger Cole said it's important that people don't forget what happened,

"To point is to try and make certain people don't forget, when the bomb was dropped in literally five seconds 70,000 people were killed and as many as 70,000 more were killed in the next day or so and thousands and thousand more died of cancer," The Belfast Telegraph reports.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Taro Aso speaking at today's memorial service in Hiroshima said the government will now set up a compensation fund.

Survivors of the atomic attacks are entitled to free medical treatment and a $1,700 monthly health allowance, ABC Online reports.

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