T-Mobile Not At Fault For Reported 'Ghost Calls' That Blocked 911, Resulted In Two Deaths

Update: The city of Dallas issued a statement clarifying the calls affecting the 911 call center were "abandoned calls," not ghost calls, and T-Mobile has been found to not be at fault for the problem.

An issue with "ghost calls" from the T-Mobile network flooding 911 and emergency service phone lines in Dallas, Tex. may have in part to blame for the death of a six-month old child and a Dallas-area man.

A number of reports have indicated the 911 call centers in Dallas were hit by a spike in calls from T-Mobile that overwhelmed their systems and making it difficult for callers to connect with the help they need.

Read: FCC Investigates Issue That Left AT&T Customers Unable To Call Emergency Services

The dire situation appears to stem from a problem on T-Mobile's side. When T-Mobile customers place a call to 911, their phones repeatedly call the number. Those calls register to the call center operators as immediate hang-ups, which requires the operators to return the call to verify if it was legitimate. Those attempts to reach the caller often further clog the system.

Because of the massive influx of calls, the babysitter of six-month old Brandon Alex was unable to reach 911 last Saturday when she attempted to call after the child fell off a bed and was having difficulty breathing. Days earlier, Dallas are man Brian Cross died after his husband was unable to reach 911 for more than 20 minutes.

Police are investigating if the deaths were the result of the ghost call issue.

"It is outrageous that T-Mobile still has not resolved the ghost-call issue that is putting Dallasites in danger by clogging our 911 system," Mayor Mike Rawlings said in a statement.

The problem has been ongoing for T-Mobile customers in Dallas since November 2016. Company officials believed the problem had been solved in January, but it has since returned.

Read: Sprint Cellphones In North Carolina Counties Out After California Emergency System Restored

According to a report from the Washington Post, there were 360 emergency calls on hold on the day of Cross' death. Days after that, 442 callers were placed on hold for an average of 38 minutes.

T-Mobile has pledged to deal with the issue. The company's executive vice president David Carey told the NBC affiliate in Dallas the company will "stay on this until it is fully resolved and everybody can rest comfortably that when they call 911, that their call and emergency request for help will be addressed immediately."

T-Mobile CEO John Legere reportedly spoke with Dallas city manager T.C. Broadnax earlier this week and committed to sending the company's "top engineers to the city to deal with the issue."

Dallas officials have promised to continue providing additional staffing support to the 911 call center and urged its residence to stay on the line if they are put on hold when calling because hanging up sends the caller to the back of the queue and causes further delays.