70th anniversary of Hiroshima atomic bombing: Facts you should know

Hiroshima: Japan is on Thursday marking 70 years since the atomic bombing in Hiroshima that helped end World War II.

Here are facts you should know about the incident on which opinion is still divided today as to whether the total destruction the bombing caused was justified:

• The atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima on August 6, 1945.
• The bomb detonated at 8:15 am local time and turned the western Japanese city into an inferno.
• The atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima by an American B-29 bomber named Enola Gay.
• The atomic bomb was dubbed "Little Boy".
• Nearly everything around where the bomb detonated, was incinerated, with the ground level hit by a wall of heat up to 4,000 degrees Celsius -- hot enough to melt steel.
• About 140,000 people are estimated to have been killed in the attack, including those who survived the bombing itself but died in the following days, weeks and months from severe radiation exposure.
• On August 9, the port city of Nagasaki was also attacked with an atomic bomb, killing more than 70,000 people.
• Japan surrendered days later -- on August 15, 1945 -- bringing the World War II to a close.