Watch: Pipe bomb hurled at Japanese PM, people run for safety

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida was rushed to safety after a man hurled an apparent smoke or pipe bomb just as he was about to begin his speech at an event in the port city of Wakayama in western Japan on Saturday.

The Japanese media is reporting that a loud explosion was also heard at Kishida was evacuated from the venue.

The incident took place at 11.25 am Tokyo time today as several hundred people were getting ready to hear Kishida’s speech along with a by-election candidate of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party.

Last July, former Japanese PM Shinzo Abe was fatally shot at a similar ‘stump speech’ in Nara, raising a big question over the security of VIPs in Japan.

Videos of a man suspected of hurling the pipe bomb being held by police have now gone viral on social media.