Thirty people have been fired by the president of Turkmenistan after a cockroach scurried across the studio table of the nation's nightly television news program, the Guardian reports.
President Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov fired 30 workers from the main state TV station after the roach made an appearance during the 9 p.m. broadcast of Vatan, the nation's nightly news program, the paper reports. The show — and the bug's jaunt around the news desk — were repeated at 11 p.m.
Journalists, directors, camera operators and technical staff were among those who lost their jobs, the Guardian reports. Berdymukhamedov had previously ordered the Ministry of Culture to revamp the station.
The nation's previous president, Saparmurat Niyazov, fired some of the station's executives after drunken technicians failed to broadcast his New Year's address, the paper said.
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