Indonesia sorry for rocket test
[Straits Times] THE Indonesian government has apologised to a woman who lost her leg when a military rocket slammed into her house after a test launch, an official said on Friday.
"Oops! Sorry! Our bad!"
Initially reported as falling safely in a prawn farm, officials now admit the experimental Indonesian-made missile hit a house in Lumajang district of East Java province on Wednesday.
"Your house was hit by a missile? What makes you think it was our missile?"
Prove to us that it wasn't a Zionist missile ...
The 50-year-old woman's leg was amputated while her 60-year-old husband was hospitalised with extensive burns, State Ministry of Research and Technology spokesman Anny Sulaswatty said. 'We are still investigating why the mistake occurred. It could be because of strong wind at the moment of the launch,' she said. 'Compensation has been offered to the victims. This reflects that we are deeply sorry.'
"Compensation? 'Zat mean I can have me leg back?"
The 3m-long RKN 200 rocket is being developed by a consortium of government bodies including state arms contractor PT Pindad and the research ministry.
Let's mark that test a "fail," shall we?
The test launch was part of programme of activities supposed to highlight the government's achievements in its first 100 days in office after elections last year. Indonesia's military spending has tumbled since the fall of the dictator Suharto in the late 1990s.
Posted by: Fred 2010-01-30 |