WATCH: Japan PM evacuated after blast at speech in Wakayama, one person detained

Tokyo: Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida was hurried from a speech in Wakayama after a blast was heard and smoke engulfed the region on Saturday, local media reported.

National broadcaster NHK and other media said that PM Kishida was safe, and a person was detained at the scene at a port in Wakayama in western Japan.

In a video posted on Twitter, several uniformed and plainclothes police officers can be seen gathered around the man and pressing him to the ground.

Kishida was visiting the Saikazaki port in Wakayama prefecture to cheer his ruling party’s candidate in a local election. There was an explosion just before he was to begin his speech, NHK said.

The suspect, identified only as a young male, allegedly threw the explosive, NHK said.

One witness told NHK that she was among the crowd and saw something come flying from behind and that there was a sudden loud noise and she fled with her children. Another witness said people were screaming and that he saw someone being apprehended right before the explosion occurred.

The incident comes nine months after Kishida’s predecessor, Shinzo Abe, was assassinated while delivering a campaign speech.

The incident also comes as Japan hosts G7 ministerial events in northern Sapporo and the city of Karuizawa in Nagano, and ahead of the May leaders’ summit in Hiroshima.

With inputs from agencies

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