A court in Hiroshima, Japan, on Wednesday determined that more survivors are recognized as victims of the nuclear bomb attack on the city.
The verdict comes 75 years after the US nuclear attack on Japan at the end of World War II.
Hiroshima District Court said that all 84 claimants, aged between 70 and 90 years old, should receive medical benefits as victims of the attack, known locally as “hibakusha”.
After the war, the central government identified areas significantly affected by the bombing and offered free medical care to those who were there at the time.
The claimants were located in areas outside that zone. Still, after the attack of August 6, 1945, they also came under the radioactive “black rain”, arguing that they had similar health complaints to those within the areas designated by the government.
As of March, the central government recognized 136,682 people as hibakusha, including those living in Nagasaki, the target of the second and final nuclear attack on August 9, 1945.
About 140,000 people died in the Hiroshima bomb and its aftermath, and 74,000 died as a result of the attack in Nagasaki. Japan will hold ceremonies next week to mark the 75th anniversary of the two bombings.