Hearse carrying body of Shinzo Abe returns him home

A car believed to be carrying the body of former Japanese PM Shinzo Abe arrives at his home in Tokyo (Eugene Hoshiko/AP)

A hearse carrying the body of former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe has left the hospital where he died and taken him back home.

Mr Abe was assassinated during a campaign event in western Japan on Friday by a gunman who opened fire on him from behind as he delivered a campaign speech – an attack that stunned a nation with some of the strictest gun control laws in the world.