TRIPLE-0 HORROR: Optus Under Fire as Three People DIE in Devastating Outage That Cut Off Emergency Calls
- South Australian Premier Peter Malinauskas slams Optus for delaying crucial information about the tragic deaths
- Eight-week-old baby and 68-year-old woman among the victims of the outage that lasted over 10 hours
- Optus CEO Stephen Rue apologises, but premier demands answers over the telco’s “bewildering” lack of transparency
South Australian Premier Peter Malinauskas has lashed out at Optus, accusing the telecommunications giant of a “bewildering” lack of transparency after a devastating outage cut off emergency calls, resulting in the deaths of three people.
In a scathing rebuke, the premier slammed Optus for failing to promptly disclose critical information about the tragic incidents to state authorities, including police. “The lack of information flow from Optus to the South Australian government’s appropriate authorities is somewhat bewildering and it raises a lot of questions,” he said.
The outage, which lasted over 10 hours, sparked hundreds of failed triple-0 calls in South Australia, the Northern Territory, and Western Australia during a network upgrade. Optus revealed the three deaths on Friday, but only after the premier called the company’s CEO, Stephen Rue, to demand answers.
The victims included an eight-week-old baby from Gawler West and a 68-year-old woman from Queenstown in Adelaide. A third death occurred in Western Australia.
The premier expressed outrage that Optus did not provide essential details about the deaths until after a media conference, where the company’s CEO apologised for the outage. “The fact that that information flow didn’t occur until after a press conference yesterday beggars belief,” Malinauskas said.
Optus is under intense scrutiny over its handling of the outage, with the premier saying the company has “very live questions” to answer about its conduct. Communications Minister Anika Wells is expected to comment on the incident shortly.
The impact of the outage is still being felt, with South Australian police conducting welfare checks on people who were unable to contact emergency services. The premier warned that there were still “live questions” for Optus to answer about its methods.