Crime & Courts

Lid of Explosive Device Flew 60 Meters Away, Stuck in Shed

The Yomiuri Shimbun

18:09 JST, April 19, 2023

A metal object, believed to be the lid of the device that exploded near Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Saturday in Wakayama, was found about 60 meters from the explosion site, according to several investigative sources.

The part was stuck in the wall of a shed located about 20 meters from the warehouse where the cylindrical device hit. The Wakayama prefectural police will examine the metal part as evidence of the power of the explosive device.

Ryuji Kimura, 24, was arrested at the scene on Saturday morning for allegedly throwing the explosive device toward Kishida at the Saikazaki fishing port in Wakayama. There was a trace of the explosive device’s tube hitting the wall of the warehouse about 40 meters away from the explosion point. The tube was found on the net covering a fish pond about five meters in front of the warehouse.

The explosive device was a pipe-like metal object about 20 centimeters long, with what appears to be a string-like fuse attached. Both ends of the cylinder were made to be closed with lids, and one of the lids had been missing from the explosive device when it was retrieved.

The prefectural police searched the area Tuesday to find a round metal part stuck in the shed wall about 2 meters above the ground. The part was taken by the police as evidence.

A rectangular hole about 7 centimeters long was found on the wall where the metal was stuck. The material of the wall is possibly wood.

The police believe that the force of the explosion popped the lid from the cylindrical object. The lid then flew above the audience and struck the wall about 60 meters away.

“Considering the fact that the heavy metal lid flew such a long distance, the explosion was quite powerful,” said firearms researcher Soichiro Takakura. “If it had hit a person, it could have entered the body like a bullet, causing the worst possible consequence.”