Three Aussies die after failing to reach triple zero during Optus outage

Three people died after triple zero calls were interrupted during an Optus network upgrade on Thursday, with emergency services disrupted across South Australia, the Northern Territory and Western Australia.

The outage affected emergency calls in the three states as welfare checks began, Optus said. The company later estimated that about 600 customers were potentially impacted, with a proportion of their calls not getting through.

During the process of conducting welfare checks, three of the triple zero calls involved households where a person tragically passed away, Optus Chief Executive Stephen Rue said on Friday. He added that the investigation is ongoing and that the facts of the outage are still being established.

Rue said the outage had been resolved and that the technical failure had been rectified. "Our investigation is ongoing, but at this stage I can confirm that this technical failure has now been rectified," he said, adding that the company would continue to review processes and safeguards.

"I want to offer a sincere apology to all customers who could not connect to emergency services when they needed them most, and I offer my most sincere and heartfelt condolences to the families and friends of the people who passed away," Rue said. "I am so sorry for your loss."

One journalist reminded Rue that Optus had been fined $12 million in 2024 for the same sort of problem. He responded, "I share your frustration. This should not have happened. We're doing a thorough investigation, I can assure you." More details would be provided as the investigation progressed, he added.

Authorities said the incident underscored the importance of robust emergency communications during network upgrades, and Optus said it would cooperate with regulators while it determines the root cause and corrective actions.