TOKYO, April 15. /TASS/. A loud explosion was heard on Saturday near the area where Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida was holding a public speech in Wakayama city in the west of the country, the NHK TV channel reported.

According to the Kyodo news agency, an unidentified man threw an object resembling a smoke bomb or a flare gun before Kishida's speech, which then exploded. The man was detained by security.

It is noted that the head of government was evacuated, he is now safe in the Wakayama City Police Department.

In July 2022, Tetsuya Yamagami shot former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in the back as he spoke at an election rally on a street in the city of Nara, southwest of Japan's main island of Honshu. The shooter was captured and arrested by the murdered politician's guards at the scene.