Prime Minister Fumio Kishida of Japan was safely evacuated on Saturday after an explosion was heard just before he was scheduled to give a speech, the country’s national broadcaster said.

The episode took place in the western Japanese city of Wakayama, NHK reported.

Wakayama is near Nara, the city where former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was assassinated during a campaign speech last July.

This is a developing story.