Japan police say flaws in basic security allowed attacker to throw pipe bomb at prime minister

By MARI YAMAGUCHI
Associated Press

TOKYO (AP) — Japan’s National Police Agency says flaws in basic security such as an absence of metal detectors and bag checks allowed an attacker to enter a campaign crowd unnoticed and throw a pipe bomb at Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in April. The bomb fell near Kishida and he was pushed away by special police before it exploded and he was unhurt. A suspect was arrested at the scene of the April 15 attack in a fishing port in the western prefecture of Wakayama where Kishida was about to make a campaign speech for a local candidate. Police said in a report that no effective measures were in place to detect and prevent anyone possessing weapons from approaching the prime minister.