Remembering that dreadful day

One of the greatest tragedies in the history of the human race happened in August, 61 years ago. August 6 has gone down in history as one of the saddest and blackest days.

At 8.15 a.m. on August 6, 1945, the first atomic bomb was dropped over Hiroshima, in Japan. Within seconds, most of Hiroshima was destroyed, thousands were killed and others injured and maimed for life. Three days later - August 9 - another bomb was dropped on Nagasaki, south of Hiroshima. This was done by America to stop the war Japan had started in South-east Asia, in December 1941. Five days later Japan surrendered, and World War II was over on August 14, 1945.

Sixty one years on, there are still quite a few survivors of the bomb blast and the fire that followed. Last year (2005), to mark the 60th anniversary of the bombing, many newspapers and magazines published pictures of survivors and those on the plane that dropped the bomb, who are still living, and what they may have remembered of that dreadful day. From these statements, we can form a picture of what it must have been like, on August 6.

The bomb was dropped from the plane at a height of 9,600 metres. It did not hit the ground. The bomb exploded 550 m above Hiroshima. After dropping the bomb, the pilot of the plane did a 180 degree turn to get away from the explosion as fast as possible. All that those in the plane saw was, a very, very bright flash. Yugi Egusa, 18 years then, also saw the flash at a distance of 6 km, and went blind.

Within seconds of the explosion, there was a ball of fire which became a mushroom-like cloud covering the whole city. It rose to a height of about eight miles and Staff Sergeant George Caron, the tail gunner in the plane, could see the cloud when the plane was 560 miles away.

Children in a school 1.9 km from ground zero, that is the Earth's surface closest to the explosion, ran to the window to look, and were burnt by the flash of the explosion.

The heat given out in the explosion was so great, that clay tiles on roofs a third of a mile from the explosion melted. The melting point of clay is 1300 degrees Celsius. Houses far from ground zero caught fire. Pumpkins roasted on creepers, and potatoes underground were baked. These were later used as food. Two men seeing a roasted pumpkin had plucked and eaten it.

The blast destroyed even the largest buildings. Shells of some buildings are still preserved as reminders of the destruction.

A large hospital, one km from ground zero toppled into the river.Fires were started, partly by the heat released in the explosion, setting alight inflammable (can easily catch fire) material and partly by the blast damaging gas pipes and electric installations. Winds blowing at a speed of 30-40 mph, fanned the fires, which lasted six hours, and burnt an area of 19.2 square metres. Over 60,000 houses were burnt. The central area of Hiroshima became an inferno (a huge fire out of control) into which no fire-fighters could enter.

Men, women and children staggered through the fire. Many were severely injured. Eyebrows were burnt off. Skin was torn off hands, or was hanging from people's faces. Hiroko Komishi, still alive, then a girl of 13 years, said she was so badly burnt her mother couldn't recognize her. One man tried to help a neighbour whose skin came off like a glove.

Sumo Tsubi, a 20-year-old engineering student, was on his way to the university when the bomb was dropped less than a kilometre away. He ran, his clothes burning and collapsed in the outskirts of the city. Now 80, he still remembered seeing a man with a chest wound so deep that he could see his (the man's) lungs expand and contract with every breath.

Even by evening, the asphalt on the streets was still too hot to walk on. A large number sat or lay on pavements, dying. Survivors felt terribly thirsty. Those who had the strength walked to the river and drank the river water. Then, they started vomiting.

There was no organised help even by evening, and no one to take away the corpses. There were a few voluntary helpers like Mr. Tamimoto. He found that "to distinguish the living was not easy, for most of the people lay still with their eyes open".

Another volunteer was Father Kliensorge. When he "penetrated the bushes, he saw about 20 men and they were all in the same nightmarish state, their faces were wholly burnt; their eye-sockets were hollow, the fluid from their melted eyes had run down their cheeks" - the result of having their faces upturned when the bomb exploded. Only three out of the 45 hospitals in Hiroshima were left.

Sixty five doctors and 1,760 nurses were killed or too badly wounded to work. The Red Cross Hospital, the largest in Hiroshima, was badly damaged. Ceilings and plaster had fallen. Plaster, dust, blood and vomit were everywhere. There were patients on the floor of the wards, in the labs, in the corridors, on the stairs, in the front hall and in the garden. The injured and the sick were dying by the hundreds.

More and more patients were coming in the day after and the following day too. Doctors and even the survivors realized that something terrible and unusual had happened. It was not ordinary burns that people were dying of. Many without severe burns or injuries collapsed and died. It was a mystery, then.

Now, the cause is known and it is well documented. The deaths were caused by radiation. Those who came from outside to help within the first three days were also exposed to radiation. Like many of the survivors, they too later developed leukaemia.

This was the sad and frightening picture of Hiroshima, on the day of the bombing.

Immediately after and for the next few years, the world hoped and believed that this dreadful weapon will never be used again. But, soon America and Russia began to build nuclear weapons. Now, seven countries, including India and Pakistan, have nuclear devices, and North Korea, Iran and Israel are said to have nuclear weapons.

Every year, on August 6 and 9, thousands gather in the Peace Parks in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and when bells toll at the exact time the bombs were dropped, they bow their heads in silence. But the world seems to have forgotten the destruction and the sorrow the bombs brought to thousands of people on those two days. If they remembered, they will not be making nuclear weapons.

Sumana Saparamadu.