MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Japanese PM unharmed as bomb goes off during an event

Kishida was not harmed in the incident

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida was reported to be unharmed and in good shape after being evacuated from an event in western Japan when an explosion was heard, according to local media.

Kishida was to deliver a public speech in Wakayama city in the west of the country, NHK TV reported.

#AHORA | El momento de la fuerte explosión a metros del Primer Ministro de Japón, Fumio Kishida. pic.twitter.com/wVzSQX2DTe

— Mundo en Conflicto (@MundoEConflicto) April 15, 2023

According to the Kyodo news agency, an unidentified man threw an object resembling a smoke bomb or a flare before Kishida's speech, which then exploded. The perpetrator was apprehended and the Prime Minister was rushed to safety at the Wakayama City Police Department.

NHK showed footage of security members and police arresting an individual as the crowd cleared the venue.

Japan tightened security following the assassination of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who was shot during a campaign event in July 2022. In July 2022, Tetsuya Yamagami shot Abe in the back as he spoke at an election rally on a street in the city of Nara, southwest of Japan's main island of Honshu. The shooter was captured and arrested by the murdered politician's guards at the scene.

The incident in Wakayama coincides with Japan's hosting of G7 ministerial summits in Sapporo (north) and Karuizawa, near Nagano (center), ahead of the G7 leaders' summit in Hiroshima in May.