A cistern near ground zero. Hiroshima, August 7th, 1945. A drawing by a survivor.
August 6th, 2006
Kikue Komatsu was 37 when the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima. She witnessed this scene on the morning of August 7th, 1945, about 550 meters from ground zero. She was 67 when she drew the picture. The words written on the drawing explain:
While searching for my daughter, I came across a mountain of corpses in a street of carnage. People had evidently rushed to plunge their faces in the water of a cistern, where they died with their arms around each other, clinging to the side. How they must have screamed for water. My heart aches for them. I clasp my hands in prayer.
Kikue Komatsu (1975)
