HIROSHIMA ¨C Shigeaki Mori, the hibakusha survivor of the August 1945 U.S. atomic bombing of Hiroshima who was embraced by then-U.S. President Barack Obama in 2016, died at a hospital in the city on Saturday. He was 88.

Scenes of Mori, a historian, and Obama hugging?during the American leader¡¯s visit to Hiroshima ¡ª the first by a sitting U.S. president ¡ª were reported by many media outlets around the world.

Mori was only around 2.5 kilometers away from ground zero at the time of the atomic bombing and narrowly survived.?All the children in the building of an elementary school he had attended were killed, but Mori, who was 8 years old at the time,?had transferred schools just before the attack.

After World War II, he did research on U.S. prisoners of war killed by the atomic bombing, and learned that the body of an American soldier was found within the premises of his former school.

While working as a company employee, Mori collected materials and conducted interviews. He identified 12 U.S. prisoners of war who perished in the attack.

He located bereaved family members of the deceased U.S. soldiers, believing that they would want to know about their loved ones¡¯?last moments. Mori registered the names and photographs of the U.S. victims with the Hiroshima National Peace Memorial Hall for the Atomic Bomb Victims.

In a speech during his Hiroshima visit, Obama mentioned Mori as ¡°the man who sought out families of Americans killed here, because he believed their loss was equal to his own.¡±

Mori shed tears when he was hugged by Obama.

In May 2018, Mori fulfilled his long-held wish to visit the United States. He joined screenings of a documentary film about him at the U.N. headquarters in New York.

Mori also attended a memorial ceremony for U.S. soldiers and met with bereaved family members.

He continued his research for many years. ¡°I¡¯ve dedicated my whole life to this, hoping to contribute even a little to peace, not to make money or seek publicity,¡± he said. ¡°That¡¯s because I am hibakusha.¡±