Optus vows to cooperate with probe into fatal emergency call outage

Optus, Australia’s No. 2 telecom carrier, said on Sept 20 that it would cooperate with official investigations after four people died following a technical failure that disrupted emergency call services for 13 hours.

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Amid a growing outcry, two of the dead were identified as an eight-week-old boy and a 68-year-old woman, police in South Australia said. The other two were men aged 49 and 74, police in Western Australia said.

Optus chief executive officer Stephen Rue said in a statement on Sept 20 that he was “deeply saddened” at news of the latest death, that of the 49-year-old.

Police said the man’s body was found during welfare checks prompted by the glitch.