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Saturday, December 5, 1998 Published at 05:22 GMT
World: Asia-Pacific
South Korea sorry for missile accident
Missile fragments crashed earth after it was destroyed in mid-air
South Korea's Defence Ministry has apologised for accidentally firing an anti-aircraft missile into busy commercial airspace over the western city of Inchon on Friday.
Officials reported three people injured by tiny metal fragments from the missile that exploded in the air. About 20 cars were also damaged by the fragments, police said.
Auto-destruct
The missile was automatically destroyed by a built-in safety device seconds after it left the launcher.
The explosion started brush fires in nearby hills but they were quickly put out.
The Defence Ministry says the Nike-Hercules missile was fired accidentally by an electronic circuit malfunction during a routine training session.
Close to border
A thorough check-up of the 33-year-old, US-built missile system has been ordered.
Inchon is about 40km from the heavily-guarded border with communist North Korea.
The two Koreas are technically at war, with no peace treaty signed at the end of the 1950-53 Korean War.
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Government of South Korea Korea's Ministry of National Defence |
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