Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe suffered a cardiac arrest and is unconscious after being shot twice at a political rally in the Japanese Western City of Nara.
NHK, Japan’s public broadcaster, said Abe – the country’s longest-serving prime minister until he resigned in 2020 – fell to the ground and appeared to be bleeding from the chest after being shot from behind with a shotgun on Friday morning.
NHK said a suspect, named by police as Tetsuya Yamagami, a resident of Nara in his 40s, had been taken into custody but provided no further details.
A witness to the attack told the broadcaster that the first shot caused Abe to stumble backwards, adding that he fell to the ground after the second shot.
Amateur video footage showed Abe’s aides rushing towards him as smoke filled the air behind him. The clip does not show the moment he fell.
The suspected gunmen reportedly did not attempt to flee and was detained at the scene.
Abe, who was flown to hospital by helicopter
Business
According to Bloomberg, investors reflexively sought haven assets after reports that former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe collapsed amid the sound of gunshots at a political event Friday.
The yen gained with US Treasuries. Japan’s currency traded as much as 0.5% higher before paring gains to 135.75 per dollar while benchmark 10-year US yields dipped 2 basis points to 2.97%. Nikkei 225 futures in Osaka earlier erased an advance of as much as 1.4%.
Kenyan Business Feed is the top Kenyan Business Blog. We share news from Kenya and across the region. To contact us with any alert, please email us to [email protected]