Shigeaki Mori, a survivor of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima who was famously embraced by former U.S. President Barack Obama during a historic 2016 visit, has died at the age of 88 media reports states.
The emotional moment, when Obama wrapped his arms around a tearful Mori at Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park, became one of the defining images of the visit the first by a sitting U.S. president to the city devastated by nuclear war.
Mori was just eight years old when the United States dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima on August 6, 1945, in the final days of World War II.
The explosion flattened the city and left him unconscious from the sheer force of the blast.
Decades later, Mori dedicated his life to preserving the memory of the tragedy. Beginning about 30 years after the bombing, he undertook a painstaking search to identify victims who had been cremated at his elementary school playground. His efforts also led to the identification of 12 Americans who perished in the attack.
Mori died in a hospital in Hiroshima on March 14.
Despite their advancing age and dwindling numbers, survivors of the atomic bombings known in Japan as “hibakusha” have continued to share their stories to ensure the horrors of nuclear war are never forgotten.
Hiroshima and Nagasaki remain the only cities ever targeted by nuclear weapons, with an estimated 550,000 deaths recorded over time, including those caused by radiation-related illnesses.
