More than 30 deaths linked to delays at Victoria’s overloaded triple-zero service

Victoria’s inspector general for emergency management says 33 people have died due to the triple-zero service being swamped during the pandemic. Photograph: Diego Fedele/Getty Images

More than 30 people died after the pandemic overloaded Victoria’s triple-zero call service and caused delays, an independent review has found.

In one case, someone waited for more than 76 minutes for their emergency call to be answered, as the pandemic placed “unprecedented demand” on the system.