Hiroshima University said it will donate fragments of the Atomic Bomb Dome it found in a nearby river to relatives of the Czech architect who designed the building that has come to symbolize the U.S. atomic bombing in World War II.
Rebun Kayo, a researcher at the university, has been working with others for several years finding fragments of irradiated buildings as part of efforts to highlight the horrors of the atomic bombing, Hiroshima University said Monday.
Some decorations and fragments of the A-Bomb Dome have been discovered in the Motoyasu River that flows just in front of it. Kayo and others plan to visit Czech Republic in mid-September to meet with relatives of architect Jan Letzel and donate some of the items they found.
The building was completed in 1915. It was used as an industrial promotional hall until the atomic bomb detonated about 160 meters away. All of the people inside died, but parts of the building remained intact.
The skeletal structure was inscribed into UNESCO's list of World Heritage sites in 1996.
The United States dropped the bomb on Hiroshima on Aug. 6, 1945, and another atomic bomb on Nagasaki three days later. Around 210,000 people are estimated to have died from the attacks by the end of 1945. Japan surrendered on Aug. 15 that year, bringing World War II to an end.