Australian radio chair: Station reviewing policy

This undated hand out photo provided by the Metropolitan Police shows Jacintha Saldanha. British police say that a nurse who was found dead days after she took a hoax call about the pregnant Duchess of Cambridge was originally from India. Scotland Yard said Saturday that 46-year-old Jacintha Saldanha, who was found dead on Friday, Dec. 7, 2012 had lived in Bristol in southwestern England for nine years. Saldanha worked at the London hospital where Prince William's wife, Kate, was being treated for acute morning sickness. The nurse was duped by a prank call performed by two Australian DJs, who pretended to be Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Charles to ask about Kate's condition. (AP Photo/Metropolitan Police

This undated hand out photo provided by the Metropolitan Police shows Jacintha Saldanha. British police say that a nurse who was found dead days after she took a hoax call about the pregnant Duchess of Cambridge was originally from India. Scotland Yard said Saturday that 46-year-old Jacintha Saldanha, who was found dead on Friday, Dec. 7, 2012 had lived in Bristol in southwestern England for nine years. Saldanha worked at the London hospital where Prince William's wife, Kate, was being treated for acute morning sickness. The nurse was duped by a prank call performed by two Australian DJs, who pretended to be Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Charles to ask about Kate's condition. (AP Photo/Metropolitan Police

In this undated supplied publicity photo 2 Day FM radio presenters Mel Greig, left, and Michael Christian pose. Greig and Christian during their radio program Tuesday, Dec. 4, 2012, impersonated Britain's Queen Elizabeth II and the Prince of Wales to dupe hospital staff into giving information on the condition of the former Kate Middleton who was suffering severe morning sickness. (AP Photo/AAP Image, Southern Cross Austereo Sydney) Australia Out, Editorial Use Only, No Archiving

Members of the media opposite the entrance to the King Edward VII hospital in central London, Friday, Dec. 7, 2012. King Edward VII hospital says a nurse involved in a prank telephone call to elicit information about the Duchess of Cambridge has died. The hospital said Friday that Jacintha Saldanha had been a victim of the call made by two Australian radio disc jockeys. They did not immediately say what role she played in the call. (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis)

FILE- In this Thursday, Dec. 6, 2012 file photo, Britain's Prince William stand next to his wife Kate, Duchess of Cambridge as she leaves the King Edward VII hospital in central London. Prince William and his wife Kate are expecting their first child, and the Duchess of Cambridge was admitted to hospital suffering from a severe form of morning sickness in the early stages of her pregnancy. King Edward VII hospital says a nurse involved in a prank telephone call to elicit information about the Duchess of Cambridge has died. The hospital said Friday, Dec. 7, 2012 that Jacintha Saldanha had been a victim of the call made by two Australian radio disc jockeys. They did not immediately say what role she played in the call. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant, File)

LONDON (AP) ? 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.

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.

Police have not yet determined Saldanha's cause of death, but people from London to Sydney have been making the assumption she died because of stress from the call.

Both DJs involved apologized for the prank before Saldanha's death. Their Twitter accounts have been taken down after they were bombarded by thousands of abusive comments.

A spokeswoman said Sunday the two DJs want to speak out about Saldanha's death.

The station has a history of controversy, including airing a segment in which a 14-year-old girl revealed that she had been raped. It also ran a series of "Heartless Hotline" shows in which disadvantaged people were offered a prize that could be taken away from them by listeners.

The Australian Communications and Media Authority, which regulates radio broadcasting, says it received complaints from around the world and is considering whether it should launch an investigation

Separately, Prince William on Sunday pulled out of attending the British Military Tournament, billed as "the largest display of military theatre in the world", citing Kate's illness.

The Duchess has been resting and has not been seen in public since leaving the hospital.

Officials from St. James's Palace have said the duchess is not yet 12 weeks pregnant. The child would be the first for her and William and would be third in line to the British throne.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/4e67281c3f754d0696fbfdee0f3f1469/Article_2012-12-09-Britain-Royal%20Pregnancy-Hoax/id-78ac8634b7f249f2a77bf77ca68230a5

nfl free agents 2012 encyclopedia brittanica nfl free agency jonbenet ramsey jason campbell doobie brothers jennie garth peter facinelli