Nagasaki hopes atomic bombing will be the last on Earth as it marks anniversary

Doves are released over the Peace Statue during a ceremony to mark the 80th anniversary of the US atomic bombing at the Peace Park in Nagasaki. Picture: Kotaro Ueda/AP

The southern Japanese city of Nagasaki on Saturday marked 80 years since the US atomic attack that killed tens of thousands and left survivors who hope their harrowing memories can help make their hometown the last place on Earth to be hit by a nuclear bomb.

The United States launched the Nagasaki attack on August 9 1945, killing 70,000 by the end of that year, three days after the bombing of Hiroshima that killed 140,000.