There would be no words to adequately describe that happened
within the explosion. No one near ground zero would survive to
tell their story. But what is known is that the force of the
blast--equaling the detonation of 13,000 tons of TNT--and sheer
heat killed at least 80,000 civilians instantly (Atomic bombings
of Hiroshima and Nagasaki). As for the witnesses on the ground
far enough away from the explosion to have survived, this is one
of their testimonies. "And at the moment when I spoke to my
friend, there was a flash, far brighter than one used for a
camera. It exploded right in front of my eyes. There was a
tremendous noise when all the buildings around me collapsed… I
was so surprised to see the dark sky with all the red flames
through the window because it was only a few minutes before when
the sky was blue and clear. It was all quiet and the city was
wrapped, enveloped in red flames" (Voices of Hibakusha: Eye-
witness accounts of the bombing of Hiroshima) --- Taeko Teramae
||VIDEO: B-29s drop an atomi