'Third Parties' Made Fiber Cuts That Messed Up 911 in South

Mass 911 outages that swept across parts of Mississippi and Louisiana on Thursday afternoon were caused by fiber cuts made by "third parties," according to a statement from AT&T. Initial reports of outages were circulating around 2pm local time in Mississippi. By 4:45pm, AT&T reported that service had been completely restored, per the AP. "There's no indication it was malicious," an Orleans Parish official said of Louisiana's outages, per ABC News.

Although the AP notes that Alabama experienced outages as well, which AT&T also mentions, AL.com reports that the Yellowhammer State managed to escape that fate, according to the Alabama 911 Board. "911 service continues to operate normally across previously affected areas," the AT&T statement noted. "We understand how important these services are and apologize to our customers for the inconvenience." AT&T also said the outages were "at no time statewide," contradicting some reports from local authorities.