A-bomb survivors tour world for peace

YOKOHAMA, Japan, Sept. 7 (UPI) -- A ship filled with survivors of the U.S. atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in World War II began a worldwide voyage Sunday to spread a message of peace.

The 103-day Peace Boat tour, with some 100 survivors of the attacks, seeks to abolish nuclear arms worldwide by sharing victims' personal stories, Japan's Kyodo News service reported.

The U.S. military dropped "Little Boy" on Hiroshima Aug. 6, 1945, followed by "Fat Man" over Nagasaki three days later.

The bombs killed as many as 140,000 people in Hiroshima and 80,000 in Nagasaki by the end of 1945, the Atomic Bomb Casualty Commission reported. Thousands more died later from injuries and illness attributed to radiation exposure.

''We will pass on our experience of atomic bombings to many people in the world, especially young people, so that no one will repeat the mistakes in Hiroshima and Nagasaki again,'' said Takashi Morita, 84, the president of the Atomic Bomb Survivors Association in Brazil.

The tour is scheduled to make port calls in 20 countries in Asia, Europe, Africa and South America.

In Vietnam, bomb survivors are scheduled to talk with victims of Agent Orange used by U.S. forces in the Vietnam War.