Nagasaki mayor hits out at nuclear powers on 74th anniversary of bombing

The mayor of Nagasaki has criticised nuclear states including the US and Russia as the city marked the 74th anniversary of the atomic bombing which ended the Second World War.

Tomihisa Taue said nuclear powers are undermining the survivors’ efforts towards building a nuclear-free world.

The mayor lamented that the idea of “useful” nuclear weapons appears to be gaining traction.

He said both the US and Russia are returning to the development and deployment of nuclear weapons, as the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty is dissolved.

Taue urged world leaders to visit the atomic-bombed cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and learn first-hand the inhumanity of nuclear weapons.

Survivors and other participants marked the 11.02am blast in Nagasaki with a minute of silence.

The US bombing killed 70,000 people, and was followed by Japan’s surrender, ending the Second World War.