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Fisherman killed by missile: MND

Injured man being removed from fishing boat.

Fisherman killed by missile: MND

Injured man being removed from fishing boat.

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – The death of a fishing captain and the injuries to three members of his crew were the result of the accidental firing of a Navy missile, the Ministry of National Defense said Friday.
During the morning, a Chinchiang-class corvette at a Navy harbor near Kaohsiung fired a supersonic Hsiung Feng III missile which landed in the Taiwan Strait near Penghu. The cause for the incident was described as an isolated case of human error.
However, after initial reports that an explosion on board of a fishing trawler had been heard around the same time, an investigation was conducted into any links between the two incidents.
At a news conference during the afternoon, the Ministry of National Defense acknowledged that the missile had gone right through the Hsiang Li Sheng fishing trawler, killing its captain, Huang Wen-chung, and injuring three crew members. The three had already left the hospital in Tainan, reports said.
The military apologized for the man’s death and said it would take all the necessary measures to take care of his relatives, reports said.
Initial reports had mentioned the possibility of a generator exploding on board, while a coast guard crew which mounted the rescue operation from Tainan said it was unable to judge whether a missile could have flown right through the fishing vessel.
Premier Lin Chuan was the first government official to be quoted as saying there was a link between the death of the captain and the accidental firing of the missile.
Prosecutors had visited the ship, which had been towed back to Kaohsiung, reports said. A military taskforce had headed to South Taiwan to investigate the details of the incident.
The military said that before normal missile drills, the surface of the target area would be checked, but in this case, no missile should have been fired, reports said.