The government in 1945 tested the first atomic bomb in southern New Mexico during World War I, now residents of Tularosa and four other New Mexico counties demand compensation from the government because health records show the atomic bomb test caused untold hardships and cancer-related illnesses down the generations of several families living near the test site area.
Statistics from the New Mexico Tumor Registry indicate cancer patients and cancer-related illnesses in Tularosa equals the rest of the state, while more people die from cancer in New Mexico than they do from other illnesses. Residents blame the government for turning the other eye to their plight while generations of families die from complications of radio-active exposures, ABC News reports.
This revelation came to the fore when the Tularosa Basin Downwinders Consortium (TBDC) together with the New Mexico Health Equity Partnership conducted series of surveys where descendants of people that were exposed to radiations from the 1945 Trinity Test told their cancer-related illness stories.
Government never warned the people of any atomic bomb tests
According to Tina Cordova, co-founder of TBDC, this survey would be the first conducted by the group with a view to knowing the truth of what happened during the world's first atomic bomb test and how it has impacted generations of people down the line. Cordova said the survey aimed for people tell their stories as plainly as they could in a way that would make the government transparently attend to their pervading health problems, Fox 6 Now wrote.
The descendants of the people exposed to radiations from the world's first atomic bomb test contend that their ancestors never knew the government was testing atomic bombs near their villages; and the government of the day never deemed it fit to warn the people of the dangers of exposure to radio-active substances or even compensated them for health problems that resulted and continued till date from the incidents.
Residents of Tularosa and its environs demand for compensations
Considering the fact that the people continue to be plagued with cancer and other resultant illness, the descendants of original dwellers of Tularosa want the government to compensate them while also providing aids for their continual health problems.
This is becoming more necessary since many families plagued with cancer and other related illnesses in these parts are poor with no direct access to basic healthcare or insurance. US Senator Tom Udall (D-New Mexico) said the over 800 community health surveys add to the body of evidence that the people were seriously harmed by the atomic bomb test and should be compensated by the government to make life a little worth living for them.
