Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has been evacuated unhurt after a suspect threw what appeared to be a smoke bomb during an outdoor speech in western Japan.
The loud explosion sparked a stampede by spectators as the prime minister’s bodyguards shepherded him to safety while police subdued an unidentified man, public broadcaster NHK said.
Neither Mr Kishida nor any members of his audience were harmed by the blast and resulting panic.
The incident occurred on Saturday at the Saikazaki fishing harbour in Wakayama prefecture, some 65 kilometres southwest of Osaka city.
Former prime minister Shinzo Abe, the longest-serving leader of modern Japan, was assassinated with a homemade gun in July while campaigning for a parliamentary election.
That attack shocked the nation and prompted a review of security for politicians, who routinely press the flesh with the public.
Kishida had just started to deliver the speech after touring the harbour when Saturday’s incident occurred, NHK said.
‘Ran away unbelievably fast’
He was to continue his Saturday afternoon campaign schedule after the incident, his ruling Liberal Democratic Part confirmed via its Twitter account.
NHK footage showed crowds running away as several police officers appeared to pin a man to the ground before removing him from the scene.
A representative of Wakayama’s prefectural police headquarters told Reuters he could not answer questions about the incident.
A woman on the scene told NHK she saw an object flying overhead and “it gave me a bad feeling, so we ran away unbelievably fast”.
“Then we heard a really loud noise. It made my daughter cry,” she said.
Kishida will host a Group of Seven (G7) summit in Hiroshima next month.
-with AAP
