Rare photographs show the aftermath of Hiroshima after the atomic bomb

Haunting: Horrifically injured locals are pictured dying on flattened streets strewn with corpses in the western Japanese city only hours after the nuclear bomb, nicknamed 'Little Boy', was dropped

Doomed: Wrapped in bloodied bandages, families pose for photographs seemingly unaware that they'll almost certainly have been exposed to fatal levels of radiation poisoning in the aftermath of the blast.

Injured locals walk along streets strewn with corpses

Dying: The haunting photographs are thought to have been taken shortly after the attack, 70 years ago today

Devastated: Hardly any buildings in Hiroshima were left standing after the massive atomic bomb blast

Obliterated: Japan is today commemorating the loss of 140,000 people killed in the initial Hiroshima blast, as well the countless numbers who died later as a result of radiation poisoning 

Tragic: Wrapped in bloodied bandages, a Japanese mother cradles and breastfeeds her injured baby

Chaos: The unknown photographer is believed to have died shortly before his camera went on sale, as nobody could have survived the radiation levels in the area so soon after the bombing

Blast: 'Little Boy' - the first atomic bomb one used at war - killed 140,000 people in Hiroshima (pictured). A second bomb 'Fat Man,' dropped over Nagasaki three days later, killed another 70,000