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Minister apologizes to victim's family for missile blunder

ROC Central News Agency

2016/07/02 13:39:57

Kaohsiung, July 2 (CNA) Taiwan's Defense Minister Feng Shih-kuan (馮世寬) on Saturday apologized to the family of the captain of a Taiwanese fishing boat, who was killed after the Navy fired a supersonic anti-ship missile by mistake and hit the fishing boat that was operating in waters off the outlying county of Penghu.

Feng traveled to Kaohsiung, southern Taiwan, to offer the apology in person to the family of Huang Wen-chung (黃文忠) at their home. He promised to help them obtain state compensation and repair the damaged fishing boat, which has been towed back to Kaohsiung.

Accompanied by Navy Commander Adm. Huang Shu-kuang (黃曙光), Feng also vowed to improve military discipline.

The locally developed Hsiung Feng III missile was accidentally launched from one of the Navy's 500-ton Chinchiang-class corvettes at Zuoying Military Harbor in Kaohsiung during a drill at 8:15 a.m. on Friday and hit the fishing boat about two minutes later, according to the Navy.

The Defense Ministry confirmed that the missile ripped through the "Hsiang Li Sheng" (翔利昇) fishing boat, causing the death of the captain and injuring the three other crew members on the boat.

The ministry has issued an apology and has blamed the incident on human error; it said a petty officer on board the Chinchiang (PGG-610) did not follow standard operating procedure and launched the missile during a simulated attack.

While meeting with Feng, the family complained that the military did not provide immediate assistance after the missile was launched by mistake, saying that the son of the captain, who was also a crew member on the boat, had to make an emergency call by himself to ask for help, before the coast guard came to their rescue.

In response, Feng explained that the military took several response measures shortly after the incident, including sending military vessels to the area where the missile sank into the waters on a search-and-rescue mission. The military's efforts were also joined by the coast guard, he added.

The fishing boat was some 40 nautical miles away from the military 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 Penghu.

(By Wang Shwu-fen and Elaine Hou)
ENDITEM/cs