Tokyo, July 8 (TIWN) Former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe passed away on Friday, hours after being shot while addressing an election rally in the city of Nara, according to state media.

The 67-year-old, the country’s longest serving prime minister, was shot while campaigning on behalf of the governing Liberal Democratic Party in the city of Nara, near Kyoto.

Gunshots were heard at around 11.30 a.m. local time, NBC reported, and Abe was taken to Nara Medical University Hospital’s emergency room.

“When he was brought to the hospital he was in a state of cardiopulmonary arrest,” Dr. Hidetada Fukushima, who operated on Abe, said at a news conference. “They tried to resuscitate him but at 17:03 he was pronounced dead.” 

“He had gun wounds in two locations and died of heart failure from heavily damaged arteries,” the doctor added.