Hawaii's Governor David Ige said that a false alert warning citizens in the US state of Hawaii of an incoming ballistic missile appeared due to a mistake by an employee with the state’s emergency management services, Sputnik reported.
"It was a mistake made during a standard procedure at the change over of a shift, and an employee pushed the wrong button," Ige told the CNN broadcaster on Saturday. He added that the warning was sent to mobile phones, and also appeared on TV and radio.
The US Federal Communications Commission announced that it has launched a probe into the false alert warning.
Earlier on Saturday, an emergency alert saying "Ballistic missile threat inbound to Hawaii. Seek immediate shelter. This is not a drill," was sent to the cellphones of the state’s residents.
The US Pacific Command announced later that it had "detected no ballistic missile threat to Hawaii," calling the text message warning an error. White House responded to the news by saying that US President Donald Trump has been briefed on the situation, calling it an "emergency management exercise."