Japan Marks 70th Anniversary Of Hiroshima Bombing

Residents in the Japanese city of Hiroshima are commemorating the 70th anniversary of the first atomic bomb being dropped by a US aircraft.

A ceremony, attended by PM Shinzo Abe, was held at Hiroshima's memorial park before thousands of lanterns are released on the city's Motoyasu river.

The bombing - and a second one on Nagasaki three days later - is credited with bringing to an end World War Two.

But it claimed the lives of at least 140,000 people in the city.

On that day alone, at least 70,000 people are believed to have been killed. Many more died of horrific injuries caused by radiation poisoning in the days, weeks and months that followed.

People across Japan have observed a minute's silence to mark the anniversary. In Hiroshima a bell tolled at 08:15 local time - when the US aircraft dropped the bomb that flattened the city centre.