UN Chief and US Officials Attend 65th Anniversary of Hiroshima A-Bomb Attack

Japan 's Hiroshima marked the 65th anniversary of atomic bomb for the first time with the presence of the UN chief and U.S. representatives, calling for a world free of nuclear weapons.

Photo: UN Chief and US Officials Attend 65th Anniversary of Hiroshima A-Bomb Attack

U.S. Ambassador John Roos will make a historic appearance Friday at Japan's Peace Memorial Ceremony in Hiroshima.

His will be the first time in 65 years that an American ambassador has attended the ceremony, which marks the atomic bombing of the city by the United States in 1945.

Roos will join U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and other dignitaries at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park, where victims of the bombing will be honored and prayers for world will be offered, CNN reports.

Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan, speaking at the ceremony, pledged to keep Japan’s principle not to possess, develop or allow nuclear weapons in the country. He said he wants atomic- bombing victims to tell the world of the horror of nuclear weapons as special envoys for nuclear disarmament.

The atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima by the U.S. aircraft Enola Gay exploded at 8:15 a.m. on Aug. 6, 1945 and killed an estimated 140,000 people in the western Japanese city that year.

A bomb dropped three days later on Nagasaki, in southwestern Japan, killed more than 70,000 people initially, according to city records, according to BusinessWeek.