In an unexpected and unpleasant twist during a family road trip through the Australian outback, a tourist found herself submerged waist-deep in a pit of human waste after an unfortunate mishap with a drop toilet.
The Canberra resident was on a journey with her family through Central Australia when they paused at Henbury Meteorites Conservation Reserve. Intent on using the restroom, she approached the facility, which featured a drop toilet—a simple setup with a hole beneath a toilet seat.
However, as she stepped onto the structure, the corroded floor betrayed her, collapsing and plunging her into a sewage pit approximately 6.5 feet deep.
Compounding the distressing ordeal was the lack of cellphone service in the remote location, situated around 90 miles southwest of Alice Springs. Her family, unable to call for immediate assistance, had to make the difficult decision to leave her behind temporarily while they drove an hour north to find help in the nearest town.
Stranded in the pit for a harrowing three hours, the woman endured the ordeal covered in waste until a passing worker fortuitously came to her aid, as reported by NT News.
Rescuing the woman proved to be a challenging endeavor, involving a 45-minute operation that required dismantling the toilet structure and carefully lowering a tow rope to pull her to safety.
She was then winched to safety using his 4×4 vehicle.
“There’s s—, literal nappies, piss, all in that hole,” a witness told the local outlet.
“You couldn’t even see the toilet.”
The woman was said to be “incredibly shaken” and sustained minor cuts.
She was transported 90 miles to Alice Springs Hospital for further evaluation.
It is understood that she and her family were traveling from Canberra to visit relatives at the time.
The toilet has since been cordoned off while NT WorkSafe conducts an investigation.
Photos of the incident site show the restroom building taped off and the entry blocked.
“The notification was made by the agency with management of the conservation zone, as a collapse or partial collapse of a structure, which is a dangerous incident under the work health and safety laws,” a spokesperson said.
The Action for Alice community Facebook page posted photos of the aftermath of the toilet nightmare, saying, “This won’t feature in tourism brochures.”
“The decaying infrastructure of NT tourism,” they added.
Commenters were horrified by the story.
“Thanks for confirming my paranoid fear of drop loos is a legitimate one,” said one. “I will now opt for the bush toilet from now on.”
Another echoed: “This is my biggest fear.”
“This is nightmare fuel,” a third wrote.
Others were worried about the potential health risks.
The main concerns for someone exposed to human waste are bacterial infections, parasites, hepatitis A and tetanus. They may also contract skin infections.
The remote Henbury Meteorites Conservation Reserve is a popular tourist stop that offers a self-guided trail around a reserve that contains 12 craters.
The craters were formed 4,700 years ago when the Henbury Meteor, weighing several tonnes and accelerating to over 25,000 miles per hour, disintegrated before impact, leaving only fragments that hit the Earth’s surface.
Henbury is one of five meteorite impact sites in Australia with remaining meteorite fragments and one of the world’s best-preserved examples of a small crater field.
