Nuclear weapons pose a “tangible and timely crisis” following the invasion of Ukraine, the mayor of Nagasaki warned Tuesday as he commemorated the 77th anniversary of the atomic bombing that devastated the Japanese city.
“The use of nuclear weapons is not an unfounded fear, but a palpable contemporary crisis,” Mayor Tomihisa Taue said, warning that they can be used for a bad decision, failure, or terrorist attacks.
On August 9, 1945, Nagasaki became an inferno killing 74,000 when it was hit by an atomic bomb three days after the attack on Hiroshima.
The two American attacks led to the end of World War II. To date, Japan is the only country to have been attacked with nuclear weapons.
But Taue warned on Tuesday that the country may not be the last.
“In January this year, the leaders of the United States, Russia, the United Kingdom, France and China released a joint statement declaring that ‘a nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought,'” he recalled he himself.
“But a month later, Russia invaded Ukraine. There have been threats of using nuclear weapons, causing chills around the world,” he added.
2 out of 3 residents of Nagasaki commemorate the victims of the atomic bomb that was dropped on the city exactly 77 years ago, on August 9, 2022. — Photo: Kyodo News via AP
Nagasaki residents commemorate the victims of the atomic bomb that was dropped on the city exactly 77 years ago, on August 9, 2022. — Photo: Kyodo News via AP
Survivors and foreign officials joined hundreds of people in a silent prayer at 11:02 a.m. (23:02 GMT), the time when the bomb was dropped on the port city.
Bells rang and doves were released during the ceremony at Nagasaki Peace Park, where purified water was offered in a ritual honoring victims who died from burns and other injuries.
3 of 3 Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida attends a ceremony marking the 77th anniversary of the bombing of the city of Nagasaki, Japan, August 9, 2022. — Photo: Kyodo News via AP
Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida attends a ceremony marking the 77th anniversary of the bombing of the city of Nagasaki, Japan, August 9, 2022. — Photo: Kyodo News via AP
Instead of waging wars, humanity should “organize a culture of peace that fosters trust and respect for others and seeks solutions through dialogue,” Taue said.
UN SecretaryGeneral Antonio Guterres also warned of the danger of a nuclear catastrophe as he commemorated on Saturday the anniversary of the attack on Hiroshima that killed nearly 140,000 people.
He warned that “as crises spread with the potential to provoke nuclear catastrophe, humanity is playing with a loaded gun”.
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