The Only Person Officially Recognized as Surviving Both Atomic Bombings: Tsutomu Yamaguchi
Tsutomu Yamaguchi was present during both Hiroshima and Nagasaki and survived, later becoming Japan’s first officially certified double survivor.
Born on March 16, 1916 in Nagasaki, Tsutomu Yamaguchi was a Mitsubishi engineer who happened to be in Hiroshima on August 6, 1945. When the bomb detonated, he was about 3.0 km from the hypocenter and still lived through it.
What sounds impossible gets worse. Despite his injuries, he was well enough to travel. He returned home to Nagasaki and, on August 9, 1945, he witnessed the second atomic bombing as well, again around 3.0 km from the hypocenter, and survived that too.
One important correction: he was not the only person to experience both. Researchers have identified around 165 “double survivors” (nijuu hibakusha). What made Yamaguchi unique is that he became the only person officially recognized by the Japanese government as a survivor of both bombings, certified on March 24, 2009.
Yamaguchi died in Nagasaki on January 4, 2010, aged 93, from stomach cancer.