Remembering Hiroshima 80 years on

An atomic bomb hit Hiroshima 80 years ago. On 6th August, people remembered this day. There was another bomb 3 days later. It hit Nagasaki on 9th August.

150,000 people died in both cities. Later, another 100,000 people died from the dangerous radiation. It gave people lifelong health problems.

For some people, the atomic bombs were a good thing. World War Two ended days later, on 15th August. For other people, the atomic bombs were a war crime.

Hiroshima and Nagasaki are important history. They made people afraid of nuclear war.

80 years later, people in Hiroshima put lights on the river. Each lantern has a message. One message is from Jasmine Smith. She's a musician from Hawaii. It tells young people to fix the world.

Jasmine Smith: "My wish would kind of just be, you know, we are the younger generation and we are the ones who are gonna be taking care of this world as it goes on. So my hope is that we as a generation can kind of fix everything that's come before us and restore that peace that everyone is gathering today for."

The mayor of Hiroshima is Kazumi Matsui. He asked countries to stop making atomic bombs. He wants young people to understand their dangers. Polish student Jakub Dziadkiewicz agrees with this message.

Jakub Dziadkiewicz: "Yes it is - that's a powerful message, what's been happening here eighty years ago. And millions of deaths should remind us that there shouldn't be war. And I just wish for peace, not only for these places, but everywhere else." View Less