Hiroshima Survivor Shigeaki Mori Dies at 88

Shigeaki Mori, a historian and atomic bomb survivor from Hiroshima, has died at age 88. He was best known for being embraced by former U.S. President Barack Obama during the president's historic visit to the city in 2016.

Mori survived the August 6, 1945 atomic bombing of Hiroshima when he was just eight years old. He spent decades researching and documenting the impact of the bombings, including identifying 12 American prisoners of war who were among the victims. His work led to U.S. confirmation of their deaths.

The U.S. atomic attack on Hiroshima instantly destroyed the city and killed tens of thousands. The death toll by the end of that year was 140,000. A second bomb dropped on Nagasaki killed another 70,000.

Mori authored a book in 2008 titled The Secret of the American POWs Killed by the Atomic Bomb, which won Japan's prestigious Kikuchi Kan Prize. The book was later translated into English. He passed away at a hospital in Hiroshima on March 14, according to Japanese media reports.

The image of Obama hugging Mori at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park became an iconic moment during Obama's visit - the first by a sitting U.S. president to the city. In his speech, Obama acknowledged 'a dozen Americans held prisoner' among the bombing victims and recognized Mori for his efforts in seeking out their families.

Mori was born in 1937 and survived the atomic blast just a mile and a half away from ground zero. About 30 years after the attack, he learned that American prisoners of war held in Japan were among those killed by the atomic bomb dropped by their own country.

'The research I spent more than 40 years was not about people from the enemy country. It was about human beings,' Mori said later.