Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida was about to give a speech when he was attacked by a man who threw what appeared to be a smoke bomb and caused an explosion.
The incident reportedly took place at the Saikazaki Fishing Port in the city of Wakayama in Japan, and one man was arrested at the scene by the police.
This comes in the wake of the late former prime minister Shinzo Abe being assassinated in Nara last year.
According to NHK World-Japan, the incident took place on Saturday (15 April) at about 11.30 am, and the prime minister was getting ready to give a speech when a loud explosion was heard.
Footage of the mayhem and chaos that ensued was captured by the media who were present at the scene, and a man could be seen being pinned down by security.
Smoke was also seen after the explosion and the man who was pinned down by security was then dragged away to a safer location.
CNN reported that the man who was pinned was the alleged culprit responsible for the explosion and the security who pinned him down were police officers.
Kyodo News added that a 24-year-old male suspect had been arrested by the Japanese police from the Hyogo prefecture.
No injuries were reported in the incident.
NHK reported that witnesses saw a man throwing what appears to be a silver cylindrical object at the time when the Japanese prime minister was about to give a speech endorsing another candidate for the ruling party.
岸田総理 爆弾テロの流れ
— まさあきくんさん (@masaaki_tetu) April 15, 2023
・和歌山、雑賀崎漁港にて、岸田総理応援演説予定。
・演説開始前に二個の鉄パイプ爆弾投擲。
・爆弾即発せず犯人身柄確保。
・その後一個が爆発。もう一つが不発の模様@ak2364n pic.twitter.com/U735abiGsL
He was shielded by law enforcement personnel and ushered to safety.
The PM had reportedly just finished trying some fish at the port when the incident happened, and thankfully managed to escape unscathed.
About an hour after the explosion, PM Kishida was back on his campaign trail.
IMage source: @ak2364n on Twitter via CNA