Japanese PM unhurt after blast shakes port he was visiting
Katherine Donlevy
Japan Prime Minister Fumio Kishida was rushed to safety Saturday after a man tossed what appeared to be a smoke bomb moments before the leader was set to give a speech.
Kishida was visiting the Saikazaki port in Wakayama when the explosive was thrown from an unnamed man hiding in a crowd of several hundred people just before 11:30 a.m., KYODO News reported.
An explosion was heard and the audience was sent fleeing.
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida attends his outdoor speech at Saikazaki fishing port in Wakayama, Wakayama Prefecture, south-western Japan on April 15, 2023.
via REUTERS
A cylinder-shaped object (C), believed to have been thrown during Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s campaign, is seen on the ground in Wakayama on April 15, 2023.
JIJI Press/AFP via Getty Images
Kishida was unharmed and whisked away into a vehicle, where he was evacuated to the Wakayama prefectural police headquarters.
The suspect — identified only as a young male — was tackled to the ground by several uniformed and plainclothes police officers and arrested.
Kishida had been visiting the port to support and give a speech in favor of a candidate of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party.
Police quickly detained the suspect believed of throwing the “smoke bomb” in Wakayama on April 15, 2023.
JIJI Press/AFP via Getty Images
The attack did not seem to phase the Prime Minister. His stump speeches planned for Saturday afternoon, including in Wakayama, will go ahead as planned, according to an LDP member and a government source.
The incident comes just nine months after Kishida’s predecessor, Shinzo Abe, was shot to death while giving a campaign speech in the western city of Nara.
The attack also comes as a series of Group of Seven ministerial meetings begins this weekend ahead of the May 19-21 summit that Kishida will host in Hiroshima.
With Post wires
Katherine Donlevy
Japan Prime Minister Fumio Kishida was rushed to safety Saturday after a man tossed what appeared to be a smoke bomb moments before the leader was set to give a speech.
Kishida was visiting the Saikazaki port in Wakayama when the explosive was thrown from an unnamed man hiding in a crowd of several hundred people just before 11:30 a.m., KYODO News reported.
An explosion was heard and the audience was sent fleeing.
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida attends his outdoor speech at Saikazaki fishing port in Wakayama, Wakayama Prefecture, south-western Japan on April 15, 2023.
via REUTERS
A cylinder-shaped object (C), believed to have been thrown during Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s campaign, is seen on the ground in Wakayama on April 15, 2023.
JIJI Press/AFP via Getty Images
Kishida was unharmed and whisked away into a vehicle, where he was evacuated to the Wakayama prefectural police headquarters.
The suspect — identified only as a young male — was tackled to the ground by several uniformed and plainclothes police officers and arrested.
Kishida had been visiting the port to support and give a speech in favor of a candidate of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party.
Police quickly detained the suspect believed of throwing the “smoke bomb” in Wakayama on April 15, 2023.
JIJI Press/AFP via Getty Images
The attack did not seem to phase the Prime Minister. His stump speeches planned for Saturday afternoon, including in Wakayama, will go ahead as planned, according to an LDP member and a government source.
The incident comes just nine months after Kishida’s predecessor, Shinzo Abe, was shot to death while giving a campaign speech in the western city of Nara.
The attack also comes as a series of Group of Seven ministerial meetings begins this weekend ahead of the May 19-21 summit that Kishida will host in Hiroshima.
With Post wires
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Summary
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida was rushed to safety during a visit to Saikazaki port on April 15, 2023, after an unidentified man threw a suspected smoke bomb. The incident occurred just before Kishida was due to give a speech in support of a Liberal Democratic Party candidate. The suspect,