Shop worker saved by his mobile

A supermarket employee foiled a robbery in central Japan after a mobile phone in his shirt pocket stopped a bullet fired by the would-be thief, police said today.

Naoaki Miyazaki, 27, and two other Aoki Supermarket employees were taking a bag filled with 10.8 million yen (€92,000) to a nearby safe when a 65-year-old man jumped them and stole the money, Nagoya city police spokesman Yukihiro Tomita said.

As Miyazaki and the others gave chase, the man, identified as South Korean Kim Jung-gam, pulled out a gun and shot at them, Tomita said.

One bullet hit Miyazaki’s chest and pierced a memo pad and calculator before lodging into the phone in his pocket.

Miyazaki, who was unaware he had been shot, tackled Kim and turned him over to police, the official said.

One of the other two shop workers, 38-year-old Takahiro Sano, was taken to hospital with a serious gunshot wound.

Nagoya is 168 miles west of Tokyo.