TOKYO, July 7 (Reuters) - Japan's former prime minister Shinzo Abe has been taken to hospital bleeding after collapsing while delivering a speech in the city of Nara in western Japan, public broadcaster NHK reported on Friday (Jul 8).

A sound like a gunshot was heard at the time, and a male suspect has been detained, NHK said.

Jiji press reported that Abe was bleeding from the neck and unconscious.