Tokyo (AP): A loud explosion occurred at a western Japanese port on Saturday during Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's visit, but there were no injuries, Japan's NHK television reported.

Kishida was unharmed and evacuated to the Wakayama prefectural police headquarters, NHK said.

The incident comes only nine months after Kishida's predecessor, Shinzo Abe, was assassinated while delivering a campaign speech in the western city of Nara.

The assassination shocked the nation and a subsequent investigation found holes in Abe's security, and led to reinforcement of Japan's police security measures.

The attack also comes as a series of Group of Seven ministerial meetings begins this weekend ahead of the May 19-21 summit that Kishida will host in Hiroshima.

Kishida was visiting the Saikazaki port in Wakayama prefecture to cheer his ruling party's candidate in a local election.

The explosion happened just before he was to begin his speech, NHK said.

A man believed to be a suspect was arrested at the scene, and NHK footage showed several uniformed and plainclothes police officers gathered around the man, pressing him to the ground and dragging him to the side.

The suspect, identified only as a young male, allegedly threw the explosive, NHK said.

One witness told NHK that she was among the crowd and saw something come flying from behind and that there was a sudden loud noise and she fled with her children.

Another witness said people were screaming and that he saw someone being apprehended right before the explosion occurred. (AP)

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Ranchi (PTI): A 25-year-old man, who works as a butcher, allegedly strangled to death his live-in partner and chopped her body into 40 to 50 pieces in a forested area in Jharkhand’s Khunti district, police said on Wednesday.

The accused, identified as Naresh Bhengra, was arrested.

The matter came to light after around a fortnight after the killing when a stray dog was found with human body parts near Jordag village in Jariagarh police station on November 24.

Bhengra was in a live-in relationship with the deceased, a 24-year-old woman also from Khunti district, in Tamil Nadu for the past couple of years. Sometime back, he returned to Jharkhand, got married to another woman without telling his partner anything and went back to the southern state without his wife to join her.

"The brutal incident occurred on November 8 when they reached Khunti as the accused who had married another woman did not wish to take her home. Instead, he took her to a forest near his house at Jordag village in Jariagarh police station and chopped the body into pieces. The man has been arrested," Khunti Superintendent of Police Aman Kumar told PTI.

Inspector Ashok Singh who investigated the case said the man worked in a butcher shop in Tamil Nadu and was expert in slicing chicken.

“He admitted chopping the body parts of the woman into 40 to 50 pieces before leaving those in the forest for wild animals to feast on. The police recovered several parts on November 24 after a dog in the area was seen with a hand," Singh told PTI.

Singh said that the woman, who was unaware of his marriage, pressured him to return to Khunti. After reaching Ranchi, they boarded a train on November 24 and headed to the man's village.

"Under a plan, the man took her to Khunti in an autorickshaw near his home and asked her to wait. He returned with sharp weapons and strangulated her with her dupatta after raping her. He then cut the body into 40 to 50 pieces and left for his home to live with his wife," Singh said.

The woman, however, had informed her mother that she had boarded a train and would be living with her partner, the police officer said.

Following the recovery of body parts, a bag was also found in the forest with the murdered woman's belongings including her Aadhaar card. The mother of the woman was called at the spot and she identified her daughter's belongings.

"The mother suspected the man behind the crime who after being nabbed by the police admitted to chopping the woman into pieces," the official added.

The incident has sent shockwaves among people in the region, with the Shraddha Walker murder case of 2022 still fresh in their memory.

Walker was killed by her live-in partner who chopped her body into pieces before dumping them in the jungle in South Delhi’s Mehrauli.