A Hawaii employee who issued a false missile warning mistook a test drill for an actual attack, the U.S. Federal Communications said on Tuesday, faulting the state's handling of the issue.
The false alarm, which went uncorrected for 38 minutes after being transmitted to mobile phones and broadcast stations, caused widespread panic across the Pacific islands state.
The FCC blamed the error in part on a miscommunication and a lack of supervision of the test drill by the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency.
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