Shigeaki Mori, Hiroshima atomic bomb survivor embraced by Obama, dies at 88

TOKYO, March 17 (Reuters) - Shigeaki Mori, the survivor of the Hiroshima atomic bombing whom former U.S. President Barack ​Obama embraced during a historic visit to the ‌city in 2016, has died at 88, Jiji Press reported on Tuesday.

The image of Obama’s arms wrapped around ​a tearful Mori at the Hiroshima Peace ​Memorial Park became a defining moment of that ⁠visit - the first ever by a sitting ​U.S. president.

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Mori was eight years old when the ​U.S. dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, flattening the city on August 6, 1945 and knocking him unconscious with the ​force of its blast.

Thirty years later, Mori ​embarked on a multi-decade quest to find victims who were ‌cremated ⁠at his school playground. His work also identified 12 Americans who died in the bombing.

He died in a hospital in Hiroshima on March 14, Jiji ​reported.

Many nuclear ​bomb survivors - ⁠known as “hibakusha” in Japanese - despite their advanced age and dwindling numbers have ​tried to keep alive the legacies of ​Hiroshima ⁠and Nagasaki, the only two cities to ever suffer a nuclear attack. The cities have counted some ⁠550,000 ​deaths from the attacks to ​date, including from illnesses related to acute radiation exposure.

Reporting by ​Hina Suzuki, Editing by Chang-Ran Kim and Thomas Derpinghaus

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