On August 9th, 1945 at 8:16 a.m. Japanese time, an American B-29 bomber, the Enola Gay, dropped the world’s first atom bomb, over the city of Hiroshima. Approximately 80,000 people were killed as a direct result of the blast and another 35,000 were injured. At least another 60,000 would have been dead by the end of the year from the effects of the fallout.
There were 90,000 buildings in Hiroshima before the bomb was dropped; only 28,000 remained after the bombing. Of the city’s 200 doctors before the explosion; only 20 were left alive or capable of working. There were 1,780 nurses before the devastation; only 150 remained who were able to tend to the sick and dying.
Estimates of Casualties:
Hiroshima | Nagasaki | |
Pre-raid population | 255,000 | 195,000 |
Dead | 66,000 | 39,000 |
Injured | 69,000 | 25,000 |
Total Casualties | 135,000 | 64,000 |
Source: History & Wikimedia commons