Military apologizes for casualty caused by missile blunder
ROC Central News Agency
2016/07/01 18:50:53
Taipei, July 1 (CNA) The Ministry of National Defense (MND) apologized Friday after a missile launched from a Taiwanese Navy corvette by mistake earlier in the day slammed into a Taiwanese fishing boat in the Taiwan Strait, killing its captain.
"The MND sincerely apologizes for the incident that caused the death of the captain and injured the other crew members," said MND spokesman Maj. Gen. Chen Chung-chi (陳中吉) at a second news conference held Friday by the military after the incident occurred in the morning.
The ministry has also asked the Navy to provide compensation and assistance to the families of the victims, Chen said.
Navy Chief of Staff Vice Adm. Mei Chia-shu (梅家樹) said at the news conference the Hsiung Feng III supersonic anti-ship missile ripped through the fishing boat, causing the captain's death, but it did not immediately explode or cause the vessel to break up.
Citing initial findings, Mei said in response to a reporter's question that "a physical part of the missile passed through the fishing boat, but it was not immediately clear whether it was debris or the missile's warhead."
He said the investigation is now focused on uncovering more details about the incident and identifying the Navy personnel who should be held accountable and be disciplined.
Mei said the missile blunder, which occurred during a drill, was most likely caused by human error, more specifically by a missile operator not following standard procedure.
Asked about the missile operation, Mei said the non-commissioned officer should have been familiar with the procedure, but further investigation was needed to figure out why the missile was fired by mistake, he added.
The locally developed missile was accidentally launched from one of the Navy's 500-ton Chinchiang-class corvettes from Zuoying Military Harbor in Kaohsiung at 8:15 a.m. and hit the fishing boat "Hsiang Li Sheng" (翔利昇) about two minutes later, according to the Navy.
The fishing boat was an estimated 40 nautical miles from the harbor in southern Taiwan. A chart provided by the Navy showed that the simulated position targeted by the missile was in the Taiwan Strait, northwest of the harbor and southeast of the offshore county of Penghu.
Earlier in the day, Mei said the missile did not cross the median line of the Taiwan Strait before sinking into waters off Penghu after striking the boat. The strait, which divides Taiwan and China, has an average width of 180 kilometers (97 nautical miles).
Asked if China took any immediate military action in the wake of the missile blunder, Mei said the Navy's radar did not notice any "abnormal actions" by China's military aircraft and vessels.
One report, citing an unnamed Navy source, said the Navy's radar noticed some abnormal signals from China's military shortly after the mistaken launch of the missile, but Mei said the report was inaccurate.
The fishing boat's captain, Huang Wen-chung (黃文忠), died in the accident, while his son Huang Ming-chih (黃明智) and a migrant fisherman from the Philippines and another from Vietnam suffered minor injuries. The damaged boat has been towed to a harbor in Kaohsiung.
In response to lawmakers' questions during a legislative floor session Friday, Premier Lin Chuan (林全) expressed sadness over the death of the captain and felt sorry for the incident. He said he has asked his deputy to meet with the victim's family.
On behalf of the premier, Vice Premier Lin Hsi-yao (林錫耀) traveled to Kaohsiung to comfort the family of the deceased captain and express his condolences.
Deputy Defense Minister Lee Hsi-ming (李喜明) and Gen. Yen De-fa (嚴德發), chief of the general staff, were also there to offer sympathy to the captain's family.
President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), who is in Los Angeles after having traveled to Latin America, has received a briefing on the incident, according to Presidential Office spokesman Alex Huang (黃重諺).
The president has asked related government agencies to get to the bottom of the incident, Huang said.
(By Elaine Hou, Justin Su, Sophia Yeh and Cheng Chi-fong)
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