Japan's prime minister evacuated due to an explosion at a rally

The Japanese Prime Minister, Fumio Kishida, has been evacuated when an explosion was registered this Saturday while he was visiting the port of Saikazaki in the city of Wakayama, in the west of the country, without being injured in the incident.

The explosion occurred while the president was preparing to give a speech and was immediately removed from the area by security services.

Firefighters have confirmed that no one has been injured.

Authorities immediately arrested the person allegedly responsible for the launch of what several witnesses described as a cylindrical object that exploded similar to a smoke bomb, according to local media.

The president was in the port with the aim of giving a speech in support of the electoral campaign of one of the candidates of his party, the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (PLD), when the suspect threw the alleged explosive object at the zone.

In the images taken by the state chain NHK, a group of police officers can be seen immobilizing the alleged perpetrator on the ground, in addition to the rest of the people fleeing the area screaming.

The suspicious object on the ground after the event.STR (AFP)

Political speeches on the street are frequent in Japan, a country with a very low crime rate, although last July former Japanese president Shinzo Abe died after being shot in the back with a homemade firearm while giving a electoral speech in the city of Nara.

An hour after the incident, Kishida resumed his electoral acts scheduled for Saturday.

"I saw that something was launched, but I was able to escape and at that time I could hear the explosion," the prime minister told a senior official from his party, in statements collected by NHK.

"We are going to hold an important election for our country, and we must work together to keep it going," Kishida said in another campaign speech held this Saturday near the Wakayama railway station.

Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida resumes campaigning after the incident in Urayasu, Chiba prefecture, this Friday.KAZUHIRO NOGI (AFP)

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