Japan: man detonates handmade explosive device at prime minister's rally

This Saturday Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida had to be evacuated during a campaign event after an explosive device was thrown at him. Authorities have already arrested one suspect.

The Japanese president was visiting the port of Saikazaki in the city of Wakayama and just as he was preparing to give an open-air speech, someone threw what appeared to be a smoke bomb.

Authorities managed to throw one suspect to the ground and arrest him without injury to anyone in the crowd. Prime Minister Kishida was quickly transferred to a vehicle and taken to the city prefectural headquarters unharmed. "I saw something being thrown, but I was able to escape and at that time I could hear the explosion," the prime minister recounted.

The suspect was identified as Kimura Ryuji, a 24-year-old man and is under arrest for suspicion of forcible obstruction of business. Police believe the explosive device was an "iron pipe bomb". However, no further details have yet been released.

Shortly thereafter, the political leader resumed his activities and delivered his speech. But the incident was reminiscent of , which occurred last July while he was giving a political speech in the city of Nara.

Abe, who had been the country's longest-serving postwar president, was shot in the back with a homemade firearm in a country where gun crime is extremely rare. Shortly thereafter, the national police chief resigned over a report that revealed flaws in the protection Abe received.