The decision to drop atomic bombs on these two cities resulted in unprecedented destruction and loss of life, marking a turning point in modern history. By the end of 1945, the bombing had killed an estimated 140,000 people in Hiroshima, and a further 74,000 in Nagasaki. In the years that followed, many of the survivors would face leukemia, cancer, or other terrible side effects from the radiation. Five to six years after the bombings, the incidence of leukemia increased noticeably among survivors. After about a decade, survivors began suffering from thyroid, breast, lung and other cancers at higher than normal
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