Obama becomes first US president to visit Hiroshima

HIROSHIMA:  Barack Obama on Friday becomes the first sitting U.S. president to visit Hiroshima, site of the world's first atomic bombing, a gesture Washington and Tokyo hope will highlight their alliance and breathe life into stalled efforts to abolish nuclear arms.

U. S. president during the visit to Hiroshima, laid a wreath at the site of the world´s first atomic bombing; a symbolic gesture that Tokyo and Washington hope will highlight their alliance and breathe life into efforts to abolish nuclear arms.

The atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima on Aug. 6, 1945, killed thousands of people instantly and some 140,000 by the year´s end.

The city of Nagasaki was hit by a second bomb on Aug. 9, 1945 and Japan surrendered three days later.

A majority of Americans see the bombings as having been necessary to end the war and save lives.

Most Japanese believe they were unjustified.