Hiroshima 70th anniversary memorial held in Japan

(Vatican Radio)  Thursday marks 70 years since the atomic bombing of Hiroshima.  Mourners in the Japanese city held prayers near where the bomb fell. 

Listen to Alastair Wanklyn's report:

There was a minute's silence as a bell struck.

Mourners recalled the moment the bomb exploded in the sky above Hiroshima, burning everything for several kilometers around. Roughly 60,000 people died instantly, and many more later from their injuries.

Japan's prime minister spoke, noting that survivors are now mostly 80 or older and that still the world has nuclear weapons.

Shinzo Abe said Japan will propose a United Nations Security Council resolution this autumn seeking abolition.

The ceremony took place in Hiroshima's Peace Park, built in one of the neighbourhoods flattened by the bomb.

Other speakers included two local children who spoke of their hopes for peace.

On this 70th anniversary, the United States sent its ambassador, and, for the first time, a senior government representative.

There will be a similar ceremony on Sunday in Nagasaki, 70 years after its destruction in history's second atomic bombing.