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Monday, December 10, 2012

Radio 2Day FM Prank: Police Now Investigating

The reverberations from the death of a nurse who accepted a hoax phone call about the ill Duchess of Cambridge spread through two countries Sunday, as Australian authorities said London police had contacted them about a possible investigation.

Gregory Katz at HuffPo.com reports The Australian radio station behind the call also announced an immediate review of its broadcast practices after the debacle, which began with a prank call made Tuesday to the hospital where the former Kate Middleton was being treated for acute morning sickness.

Two radio DJs managed to impersonate Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Charles and received confidential information about the Duchess's medical condition, which was broadcast on-air. The controversial prank took a dark twist three days later with the death of nurse Jacintha Saldanha, a 46-year-old mother of two, who was duped by the DJs despite their Australian accents.

The death has sparked an angry backlash against the DJs, who have been taken off the air indefinitely.

After an emergency meeting Sunday, Max Moore-Wilton, the chairman of parent company Southern Cross Austereo, which owns the 2DayFM radio station, said in a letter to the hospital's chairman that the company will cooperate with any investigation.

"It is too early to know the full details leading to this tragic event and we are anxious to review the results of any investigation that may be made available to us or made public," he wrote. "I can assure you we are taking immediate action and reviewing the broadcast and processes involved."

"As we have said in our own statements on the matter, the outcome was unforeseeable and very regrettable," he wrote.

Australian police Sunday confirmed they had been contacted by London police and said they would cooperate.

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