As Japan marks the 80th anniversary of the atomic bombings, the mayor of Nagasaki is warning that the world could see the same kind of devastating attack again.

Approximately 2,600 people, including representatives from 90 countries, attended the memorial event on Saturday at Nagasaki Peace Park, according to the Associated Press. At 11:02 a.m., the exact time the bomb exploded over the city, the attendees held a moment of silence. Nagasaki Mayor Shiro Suzuki, whose parents survived the 1945 attack, addressed the crowd and called for global action against nuclear weapons.

“Conflicts around the world are intensifying in a vicious cycle of confrontation and fragmentation,” Suzuki told a crowd on Saturday, according to a translation by The Mainichi. “If we continue on this trajectory, we will end up thrusting ourselves into a nuclear war. This existential crisis of humanity has become imminent to each and every one of us living on Earth.”

Doves are released over the Peace Statue during a ceremony to mark the 80th anniversary of the U.S. atomic bombing at the Peace Park in Nagasaki, southern Japan on Saturday, Aug. 9, 2025. (Kotaro Ueda/Kyodo News via AP)

“I would like to express my deepest condolences for the lives claimed by the atomic bombings, and to all of the victims of war,” Suzuki said, according to The Mainichi. “In marking 80 years from the atomic bombing, Nagasaki has resolved to continue our duty to relay, both inside Japan and overseas, the memories of the bombing, which are a common heritage to all humanity and should be passed down for generations throughout the world.”

He concluded with a declaration, which was also translated by The Mainichi: “I hereby declare that in order to make Nagasaki the last atomic bombing site now and forever, we will go hand-in-hand with global citizens and devote our utmost efforts towards the abolition of nuclear weapons and the realization of everlasting world peace.”