A woman visiting the Henbury meteorite crater south of Alice Springs endured a horrifying ordeal after a long-drop toilet collapsed, leaving her stranded waist-deep in sewage for several hours. The incident occurred on Sunday afternoon when the tourist, accompanied by her partner and two children, entered the toilet and did not emerge for three hours.
Long-drop toilets, common in remote areas, use a deep pit to collect waste. According to NT WorkSafe, initial inquiries indicate the toilet fell into the sewage pit, taking the woman with it. The agency has been notified of the incident, which is being investigated as a dangerous occurrence under work health and safety laws.
A witness told NT News the woman was standing up to her waist in waste, describing the pit as containing excrement, nappies, and urine. The woman’s partner had driven up the highway seeking phone reception for help when a tradesman arrived. He lowered a tow rope into the hole for the woman to stand on, using his car to lift her out in a 45-minute rescue.
The woman sustained only minor cuts but was left shaken. She was taken to Alice Springs hospital. Images from the site show the outhouse cordoned off with caution tape. A local blog noted, 'This won’t feature in tourism brochures.'
This is not the first such incident: in 2024, a man became stuck in a long-drop toilet near Wodonga, Victoria, requiring a one-hour rescue by fire crews.
