Origami cranes hung at Alrewas memorial for Hiroshima anniversary

Children from Alrewas Primary School hung some of the paper cranes at the arboretum's Anglo-Japanese Grove of Reconciliation

Seventy five years since the world's first atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, schoolchildren have marked the anniversary at the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire.

A US bomber dropped the uranium bomb above the Japanese city on 6 August 1945, killing about 140,000 people.

A second bomb dropped on Nagasaki days later, led to Japan surrendering and the end of World War Two.

On Thursday, the children hung origami Japanese peace cranes at the arboretum.

Children socially distanced as they made the cranes at the arboretum on Thursday

The children, many from Alrewas Primary School, made the traditional peace cranes at the arboretum's Anglo-Japanese Grove of Reconciliation.

Teenagers like Sam Cooper also joined the event. He said he wanted to attend because his great great uncle was a Japanese prisoner of war.

"It means a lot because there is a family connection, but it's not about my family, it's about everyone else's families... it's nice and interesting to learn about others who made such a huge difference."

Bells tolled in Hiroshima earlier on Thursday as part of the anniversary, although memorial events were scaled back this year because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

A moment's silence was held at 08:15 local time, the exact time the bomb was dropped on the city.

Events to mark the anniversary were scaled back due to the coronavirus pandemic