(11)Are the remains of some atomic bomb victims still in the rivers of Hiroshima?

Perhaps the remains are at rest in the Atomic Bomb Memorial Mound.

Many people who survived the initial bomb blast sought refuge in the rivers and died there. In pictures drawn by A-bomb survivors, bodies are shown floating in the water. What happened to those bodies?

First, I tried to learn whether any remains had been discovered when construction along the river banks was carried out in the area of the hypocenter. This construction work took place along the Motoyasu River which flows in front of the A-bomb Dome, from the Aioi Bridge to the Motoyasu Bridge.

According to the Otagawa River Branch of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, and Transport, construction took place at four locations along the banks of the Otagawa River and three bridges were rebuilt between 1977 and 1999. In 1996, during work on the west bank, about 4000 roof tiles were discovered, but no bones have been found.

The vice-president of the branch, Tsutomu Motoyama asked 20 staff members, including former staff who began working there in 1961, but no one had ever heard of bones being found in the river. The prefectural office, which oversees other rivers, also queried their staff and received the same response.

Mr. Wada relates his experience of pulling out bodies from the river.

"It's rare for bones to remain buried," said Tadashi Hibino, a professor in the Graduate School of Engineering at Hiroshima University. "Special conditions are needed." Professor Hibino has studied river environments and points out that it's more likely for something submerged in the water to be carried out to sea. And this is particularly true of rivers in Hiroshima, which are more buoyant because they contain some seawater.

Does this mean that the victims' bodies were washed into the ocean? As I investigated further, I found that this probably wasn't what happened.

In spite of the chaos that was a consequence of the bombing, I learned that bodies were pulled from the rivers and cremated. Isao Wada, 81, who was a soldier in the Japanese army and helped dispose of bodies, recalls "With a couple of other people, I pulled in many bodies that were drifting on the river." In fact, before the bodies could float out to sea, they were retrieved and memorials for the dead were held in front of the A-bomb Dome.

Each day, more than 50 bodies were cremated on the river bank. "We dug pits and burned the bodies inside them. Then we spread dirt over the remains and placed branches and stones as grave markers." In 1986-87, construction took place in this spot by the Otagawa River, but strangely, no bones were unearthed.

Misuzu Fukuoka, director of the Atomic Bomb Survivors Relief Department in Hiroshima City Hall, suggests that local residents and monks moved these remains so they could be placed in the Atomic Bomb Memorial Mound in Peace Memorial Park. However, because of the chaos at that time, there are no records to confirm this possibility. (Kyoko Morioka, staff writer)