Hiroshima marks 74th anniversary of atomic bombing

People pray for the atomic bomb victims in front of the cenotaph at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park in Hiroshima, western Japan during a ceremony to mark the 74th anniversary of the bombing Tuesday, Aug. 6, 2019. (Kyodo News via AP)

TOKYO — Hiroshima has marked the 74rd anniversary of the atomic bombing of the city with its mayor renewing calls for eliminating such weapons.

Mayor Kazumi Matsui raised concerns in his peace address Tuesday about the rise of self-centred politics in the world and urged leaders to steadily work toward achieving a world without atomic weapons.

He demanded Japan’s government represent the wills of atomic bombing survivors and sign a U.N. nuclear weapons ban treaty.

The U.S. attack on Hiroshima on Aug. 6, 1945, killed 140,000 people. The bomb dropped three days later on Nagasaki killed another 70,000 before Japan’s surrender ended World War II.

The Hiroshima anniversary ceremony came hours after North Korea launched projectiles into the sea. Its recent weapons tests follow a stalemate in negotiations over its nuclear weapons.

The Associated Press