False alarm sends Hawaii into ballistic missile panic
A PUSH of the wrong button sent people in the US state of Hawaii into panic yesterday that a missile was headed their way.
The message – in capital letters – was sent to mobile phones and read: ‘Ballistic missile threat inbound to Hawaii. Seek immediate shelter. This is not a drill.’
Hawaiian Governor David Ige told CNN: ‘It was a mistake made during a standard procedure at the change-over of a shift and an employee pushed the wrong button.’
The Honolulu Police Department quickly revealed that the warning had been sent in error, but panic had already spread.
As the closest US state to North Korea, the island has been on alert since Pyongyang began escalating its nuclear programme amid a war of words between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.
Hawaii tested its nuclear warning sign last month for the first time since the Cold War. An investigation is under way into why the message was sent.