Japan on Thursday marks 75 years since the world’s first atomic bomb attack, with the coronavirus pandemic forcing a scaling back of ceremonies to commemorate the victims.

Survivors, relatives and a handful of foreign dignitaries will attend this year’s main event in Hiroshima to pray for the victims and call for world peace.

The general public will however be kept away, with the ceremony instead broadcast online.

Mayor Kazumi Matsui told reporters that the annual commemoration is Hiroshima’s mission of calling on people across the world to work towards peace.

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