‘Heart still beating fast’: Witness stunned as Japan PM attacked with explosives | World news
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida was evacuated from a station in Wakayama on Saturday after a noise was heard, but was not injured in the incident, local media reported.
Read here: There was confusion as what was said near the Japan PM during the speech, Kishida was not injured. Video
Images on Japanese television showed a commotion in the crowd where Kishida was supposed to speak, and then loud noises and white smoke.
One person was detained at the site in western Japan, national broadcaster NHK and others said.
There was no immediate official confirmation of the incident, with local police refusing to comment.
NHK showed footage of security and police arresting people as the crowd dispersed and shouted.
“I was surprised. My heart is still beating fast,” a woman at the scene told the broadcaster.
Another person at the scene told NHK that people began to disperse in panic even before the explosion, after someone said that an explosive device had been thrown.
Kishida had finished sampling fish at the site and was about to give a speech to the people who supported a government party candidate in the upcoming local election at the cottage when the incident occurred.
“That something like this happened in the middle of an election campaign that is the foundation of democracy is sad. It is an unforgivable injury,” Hiroshi Moriyama, Chairman of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), told NHK.
The broadcaster said the suspect was taken into custody on suspicion of obstructing business.
Japan has tightened security around politicians after the assassination of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who was shot and killed while speaking at a campaign event in July 2022.
His alleged killer, Tetsuya Yamagami, reportedly targeted his links to the Unification Church, and the incident sparked revelations about the connection between the group and political figures in Japan.
It is reported that Yamagami is angry with the group because of the large amount of money his mother gave to the group that left the family behind.
Abe danced unguarded and spoke on a street in western Nara, and his assassination prompted a major security review of how political figures are protected.
Read here: Japan PM Fumio Kishida unhurt after ‘smoke bomb’ speech, 1 detained: Report
The incident comes as Group of Seven climate and energy ministers meet in the northern city of Sapporo, and a day before G7 foreign ministers arrive in Karuizawa in Nagano for talks.
Japan will host the G7 leaders’ summit next month in Hiroshima.
