Taiwan has mistakenly fired a supersonic anti-ship missile, according to an official Taiwanese news agency.

The Central News Agency said the 500-tonne patrol boat Chinchiang was undergoing an inspection inside a military base when the missile - a Hsiung Feng III - was fired by accident on Friday.

There were no injuries caused by the error.

It said the missile landed in waters off the islands of Penghu near Taiwan and that a preliminary investigation showed that its operators may have failed to follow proper procedures.

The agency said a full investigation is under way.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.