Man arrested after ‘smoke bomb’ is thrown at Japan’s prime minister
Man arrested after ‘smoke bomb’ thrown at Japanese PM: incident comes less than a year after assassination of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe
- Japan’s prime minister Fumio Kishida was speaking in the western city of Wakayama on Saturday when he was attacked
- An assailant threw a pipe-like object at Kishida, forcing him to be evacuated from the scene: local media said it was a smoke bomb and Kishida was not injured
- The attacker was quickly arrested by the police
The Japanese prime minister had to take cover on Saturday after a pipe-like object, believed to be a smoke bomb, was thrown at him during an outdoor speech.
Fumio Kishida was unharmed in the incident, which came after former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was shot dead on the campaign trail last year by a lone assailant with a homemade gun — an attack that stunned the nation.
Kishida’s attacker was quickly arrested.
The attack took place in the western city of Wakayama – just 60 miles from Nara, where 67-year-old Abe was killed on July 8, 2022.
A loud explosion was also heard, but the prime minister took cover and was unharmed while police at the scene restrained a man, public broadcaster NHK said.
The local news agency Kyodo News reported that a man had thrown what appeared to be a smoke bomb.
Police in Wakayama detained a man on Saturday who threw a pipe-like object at the Japanese prime minister
Fumio Kishida, the Prime Minister of Japan, is seen shortly before the attack on the fishing port of Saikazaki in Wakayama
A man ruins from the cylindrical object thrown at Kishida
Public broadcast footage showed crowds running away as several police officers appeared to pin a person to the ground before removing him from the scene.
Kishida had just begun a speech following a tour of the fishing harbor in Wakayama when the incident occurred, NHK said.
A local councilor who was on the scene told NHK that shortly before the explosion was heard, a “cylindrical silver object” had flown “about six feet in front of me.”
Another eyewitness also reported seeing “a silver cylinder,” who said it was “thrown and then shone a little before a big noise was heard.”
Kishida will host a summit of the leaders of the Group of Seven (G7) in Hiroshima next month.
The man who threw a smoke bomb at the prime minister will be arrested on Saturday