Optus Under Fire After Emergency Services Glitch Claims Lives
Following a technical failure, emergency call services were disrupted for 13 hours, resulting in four fatalities in Australia. Optus, the telecom company responsible, is cooperating with investigations and conducting an independent review to address the grave situation. This incident adds to the company's history of technical issues.
Optus, Australia's second-largest telecom provider, is under scrutiny following a technical failure that interrupted emergency call services for 13 hours, leading to four fatalities. The deceased include an eight-week-old boy and a 68-year-old woman in South Australia, and two men, aged 74 and 49, in Western Australia.
CEO Stephen Rue expressed his condolences, particularly highlighting the death of the 49-year-old man, discovered during welfare checks initiated by the network glitch. Rue reiterated apologies and committed to an independent incident review while ensuring full cooperation with ongoing investigations.
The disruption, stemming from a firewall upgrade, affected around 600 customers across two states and Northern Territory. Optus has conducted welfare checks on affected individuals, and unreachable cases have been transferred to police. This incident comes shortly after Optus faced fines and a cyberattack, adding to the company's challenges.
(With inputs from agencies.)
Google News