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▼ Kishida Unhurt After Explosive Device Thrown At Him In Wakayama
- Category:Event
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida was unhurt after a man threw a cylindrical object which exploded ahead of a stump speech he was due to make during his visit to western Japan on Saturday, less than a year after a former premier was fatally shot during election campaigning.
Kishida immediately left by car after the incident, which took place as he was talking with a candidate of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party just before his scheduled speech at a fishing port in the city of Wakayama.
According to investigative sources, Ryuji Kimura, a 24-year-old man from Hyogo Prefecture, was arrested at the scene.
In a stump speech elsewhere in the city, Kishida said the incident should not be allowed to disrupt the electoral process. "Together with you all, we have to carry on with the election."
The object, 20-30 cms long, believed to be a pipe bomb, was thrown at around 11:25 a.m. from among a crowd of people. A loud explosion was heard about 50 seconds later, sending people fleeing in panic.
Footage by the public broadcaster NHK showed the suspect holding another silver cylinder as he was wrestled to the ground by a fisherman and another man, as well as police officers.
Investigative sources said the suspect brought with him two explosive devices, including the one used in the attack.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno told reporters at the prime minister's office, "Elections are a bedrock of democracy. It is extremely unforgivable that such violence took place (at such a time)."
Matsuno, Japan's top government spokesman, said police are investigating the suspect's motive and called for the National Police Agency to ensure the protection of VIPs.
The suspect is refusing to answer police questions in the absence of a lawyer, according to the local police. He was only 10 meters or so away from Kishida when he threw the object, they said.
Kishida could be seen turning around to see what the object was as it landed behind him. A police officer used a briefcase to cover it and kicked it away. Kishida was escorted by security police officers to a car parked just a dozen meters away and driven to the headquarters of the Wakayama prefectural police.
Naoya Tanimoto, who was among the crowd awaiting Kishida's speech, said he heard a loud explosion around 10 seconds after the suspect was held down. "It is usually quiet in the fishing port, so I was really scared. We were all in a panic," Tanimoto, 31, said.
Only one minor injury, that a local police officer, was reported.
Former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was fatally shot in July last year during a stump speech in the city of Nara before the House of Councillors election, leading the NPA to bolster its VIP security.
The agency had also called for security to be stepped up ahead of House of Representatives by-elections in late April and the Group of Seven summit in Hiroshima in May.
The latest incident took place during official campaigning for a lower house by-election in the Wakayama No. 1 district.
The NPA said it has reviewed in advance the security plans made by the local police in Wakayama and they were carried out in line with the guidelines made after Abe's incident.
Mitsuru Fukuda, professor of emergency and crisis risk management at Nihon University, said the location at the port selected for Kishida's speech was far from ideal for such an event and there should have been a much larger distance between him and the spectators.
The incident hurts the credibility of the Japanese police's VIP protection programs ahead of the G7 summit, Fukuda said.
A woman in her 50s who works near the fishing port said, "I thought there was some kind of explosion and something similar to what happened to former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe might have occurred."
In Sapporo, Jonathan Wilkinson, Canada's minister of natural resources, said on the fringes of the G7 ministers' meeting on climate, energy and environmental issues that he heard about the incident.
"We are all very happy that he (Kishida) is well," Wilkinson said at the outset of a bilateral meeting with Japan's economy and trade minister Yasutoshi Nishimura.
© KYODO
Kishida immediately left by car after the incident, which took place as he was talking with a candidate of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party just before his scheduled speech at a fishing port in the city of Wakayama.
According to investigative sources, Ryuji Kimura, a 24-year-old man from Hyogo Prefecture, was arrested at the scene.
In a stump speech elsewhere in the city, Kishida said the incident should not be allowed to disrupt the electoral process. "Together with you all, we have to carry on with the election."
The object, 20-30 cms long, believed to be a pipe bomb, was thrown at around 11:25 a.m. from among a crowd of people. A loud explosion was heard about 50 seconds later, sending people fleeing in panic.
Footage by the public broadcaster NHK showed the suspect holding another silver cylinder as he was wrestled to the ground by a fisherman and another man, as well as police officers.
Investigative sources said the suspect brought with him two explosive devices, including the one used in the attack.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno told reporters at the prime minister's office, "Elections are a bedrock of democracy. It is extremely unforgivable that such violence took place (at such a time)."
Matsuno, Japan's top government spokesman, said police are investigating the suspect's motive and called for the National Police Agency to ensure the protection of VIPs.
The suspect is refusing to answer police questions in the absence of a lawyer, according to the local police. He was only 10 meters or so away from Kishida when he threw the object, they said.
Kishida could be seen turning around to see what the object was as it landed behind him. A police officer used a briefcase to cover it and kicked it away. Kishida was escorted by security police officers to a car parked just a dozen meters away and driven to the headquarters of the Wakayama prefectural police.
Naoya Tanimoto, who was among the crowd awaiting Kishida's speech, said he heard a loud explosion around 10 seconds after the suspect was held down. "It is usually quiet in the fishing port, so I was really scared. We were all in a panic," Tanimoto, 31, said.
Only one minor injury, that a local police officer, was reported.
Former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was fatally shot in July last year during a stump speech in the city of Nara before the House of Councillors election, leading the NPA to bolster its VIP security.
The agency had also called for security to be stepped up ahead of House of Representatives by-elections in late April and the Group of Seven summit in Hiroshima in May.
The latest incident took place during official campaigning for a lower house by-election in the Wakayama No. 1 district.
The NPA said it has reviewed in advance the security plans made by the local police in Wakayama and they were carried out in line with the guidelines made after Abe's incident.
Mitsuru Fukuda, professor of emergency and crisis risk management at Nihon University, said the location at the port selected for Kishida's speech was far from ideal for such an event and there should have been a much larger distance between him and the spectators.
The incident hurts the credibility of the Japanese police's VIP protection programs ahead of the G7 summit, Fukuda said.
A woman in her 50s who works near the fishing port said, "I thought there was some kind of explosion and something similar to what happened to former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe might have occurred."
In Sapporo, Jonathan Wilkinson, Canada's minister of natural resources, said on the fringes of the G7 ministers' meeting on climate, energy and environmental issues that he heard about the incident.
"We are all very happy that he (Kishida) is well," Wilkinson said at the outset of a bilateral meeting with Japan's economy and trade minister Yasutoshi Nishimura.
© KYODO
- April 15, 2023
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