On Wednesday, Japan observed a minute of silence to mark the 69th anniversary of the US atomic bombing of Hiroshima.
More than 45,000 people, including Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and survivors of the attack, gathered at the southern city's Peace Park to mark the anniversary of the bombing at the exact local time, 8.15 am.
On 6 August 1945, a nuclear bomb called "Little Boy" was dropped by an American B-29 bomber, the 'Enola Gay', which was flown by Colonel Paul Tibbets.
Little Boy was the first nuclear bomb, which was used in the warfare on the Japanese city of Hiroshima, according to BBC. The bomb exploded 1,900ft (580 meters) above the ground, killing more than 80,000 people instantly.
The radiation, heat and injuries took the final death toll to 135,000. Three days later, Americans dropped a second nuclear bomb called "Fat Man" on the city of Nagasaki, killing more than 40,000 people instantly.
Check out the photos below:
Colonel Paul Tibbets, pilot of the Enola Gay, the plane that dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, waves from his cockpit before takeoff from Tinian on August 6,1945 in this handout photo courtesy of the U.S. National Archives.REUTERS/U.S. National Archives and Records Administration/Handout
The ground crew of the B-29 "Enola Gay" which atom-bombed Hiroshima, Japan on August 6, 1945 poses for a photo with the aircraft at their base in Tinian, Mariana Islands in this undated U.S. Air Force handout image. Colonel Paul Tibbets, the pilot, stands in the center.REUTERS/U.S. Air Force/Handout
Colonel Paul Tibbetts poses in front of his B-29 Superfortress "The Enola Gay" (named for his mother) in this undated U.S. Air Force handout photo. The Enola Gay is the same plane he piloted when his bombardier dropped the first atom bomb over Hiroshima, Japan.REUTERS/U.S. Air Force/Handout
A copy of "Little Boy", the atomic bomb that was dropped on Hiroshima fifty years ago, rests beneath the fuselage of the Enola Gay, the B-29 that delivered the bomb, at the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum June 27.REUTERS
Visitors look at the 60-foot fuselage of Enola Gay, the B-29 that dropped the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima 50 years ago, during the Smithsonian Institution's press review of the exhibit June 27. After 18 months of controversy, Enola Gay goes on public display June 28 at the Smithsonian Air and Space MuseumREUTERS
FILE PHOTO MARCH 1946 - This general view of the city of Hiroshima showing damage wrought by the atomic bomb was taken March 1946, six months after the bomb was dropped August 6, 1945.REUTERS
FILE PHOTO TAKEN 06AUG1945 - Japanese air raid workers carry a victim of the atomic bomb in Hiroshima away from smoking ruins in this August 6, 1945 file photo.REUTERS
A mother and son look at a picture of the mushroom cloud atomic bomb blast as they visit Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum in HiroshimaREUTERS
A visitor at the Hiroshima Peace Museum looks up at a large sign showing the exact time when the Atomic bomb hit the Japanese cityREUTERS
FILE PHOTO TAKEN AUG1945 - Aerial pictures of Hiroshima taken in April 1945 before the atomic bomb was dropped and, in August 1945 after the bombing, show the extent of the devastation on the city.REUTERS
Waves of heat rise as doves circle the sky around Hiroshima's symbolic atomic bomb dome at an anniversary ceremonyREUTERS
A boy looks at a huge photograph showing Hiroshima city after the 1945 atomic bombing, at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum, JapanREUTERS
Atomic bomb victim Sumiteru Taniguchi shows his back which was severely burnt by the atomic bomb next to a photo of him taken about half a year after the incident at his home in Nagasaki
