Report: Worcester 911 down 2 hours in mid-Jan.

WORCESTER, Mass. (AP) -- A Verizon equipment failure disrupted Worcester's 911 system for more than two hours earlier this month.

The Telegram & Gazette reports that between three and eight emergency calls did not go through on Jan. 17.

The Verizon malfunction also knocked out telephone links between emergency medical service radio towers around central Massachusetts and area hospitals

Verizon spokesman Philip G. Santoro said the company's engineers are trying to determine why some Worcester emergency calls went awry despite network redundancy. He says some emergency calls were rerouted but an unknown number of callers got a busy signal instead of a dispatcher's voice.

The State 911 Department in Taunton is waiting for a final report from Verizon detailing what happened at 3:45 p.m. Jan. 17 when a piece of Verizon networking gear malfunctioned.