WATCH: Japan PM Fumio Kishida attacked with smoke bomb, evacuated from speech venue in Wakayama

Japan Prime Minister Fumio Kishida came under attack when a smoke bomb was hurled when he was delivering a speech in the Japanese city of Wakayama. The prime minister was evacuated safely and the attacker was apprehended, as per reports. As soon as the explosionwas heard, the officers quickly rushed PM Kishida safely away from the scene while responding to the situation.

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According to the Japanese news agency Kyodo News, a man hurled what seemed to be a smoke bomb at Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Saturday when he was giving a speech at a campaign event in western Japan.

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Kishida was alongside a candidate for the ruling Liberal Democratic Party when the incident took place. The Japanese prime minister was evacuated from the area unharmed.

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Immediately after the incident, which happened during official campaigning for a lower house by-election for the Wakayama No. 1 district, the attacker was taken into custody by police.
Videos on social media and TV showed officers piling on top of a person, believed to be a suspect, holding him down, and then carrying him away.

The address by Kishida was cancelled, as per Kyodo News. However, Kishida resumed campaigning later.

"There was a loud blast sound at the previous speech venue. Police are investigating details, but I'd like to apologise for worrying many people and causing them trouble," Kishida reportedly said, quoted NHK. He added, "An election that's important to our country is taking place, and we must work together and follow through on it."

Sharing the accountof the incident, Kishida said he saw an object thrown near him at a campaign event and he fled moments before it exploded. He also told a top official of the Liberal Democratic Party in a telephonic conversation that the time duration between spotting the object thrown at him and the explosion was enough to allow him to flee the campaign site, reported NHK.

He added that he would continue his campaign events on Saturday and Sunday as per schedule.

Video footage on social media shows how a man being held down by several others who seemed to be police officers at the site. Meanwhile, the people who had gathered at the incident ran for cover as was seen in the footage.

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After touring the fishing harbour in Wakayama, Kishida had just begun to give a speech, according to NHK media outlet. A lot of footage of the event is being shared on social media.The incident comes ahead of next month's meeting of the Group of Seven (G7) leaders which Kishida is set to host in Hiroshima.

Shinzo Abe, the former prime minister, was fatally shot in July 2017 during a campaign address ahead of the upper house election.

(This is a developing story)

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