An outage of 911 phone lines in two US states has left emergency responders scrambling to find other ways to assist people needing help.
Emergency lines were down across Mississippi around 2pm local time today, according to Hinds County Sheriff and Jackson Police Chief Tyree Jones.
‘Attention: 911 and administration lines are currently down statewide. This has impacted calls and emergency responses,’ he wrote on social media.
‘Officials are working with AT&T to identify and correct the problem.
‘Will continue to update and provide a contingency plan.’
Residents in different parts of the state have been advised to instead call their local police department, sheriff’s office and law enforcement precincts.
Officials urged residents to spread the word on the numbers to call inthe meantime and that they would provide updates on the 911 line on social media and through official city communications.
Around the same time, officials said both 911 and non-emergency phone lines were down across Louisiana.
Louisiana residents should call district phone numbers if they need help until the 911 lines are back.
Orleans Parish, Jefferson Parish, St Tammany Parish, Tangipahoa Parish and St John the Baptist Parish provided specific phone numbers for their residents.
Technicians were working to fix the problem, state officials said.
The reason for the outages in both states was not immediately known.
It comes two days after the US Secret Service dismantled a massive plot to bring down New York’s phone network before the United Nations General Assembly.
On Monday, international security expert Will Geddes told Metro that the attack was likely an attempt to clog the network and cell service, which would have also disrupted the public’s ability to get in contact with emergency responders.
‘If there are state threat actors behind it, who could then either attack somewhere, set off devices, or set off decoys to draw emergency services into areas unnecessarily,’ said Geddes.
‘This would cause untoward chaos.’
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