A tourist taking a break in the Australian outback ended up waist-deep in human waste after falling into an outdoor toilet.
While driving through Central Australia with her family on Sunday, a Canberra woman stopped at Henbury Meteorites Conservation Reserve to use a drop toilet — a hole in the ground beneath a toilet bowl.
But to her shock, the rusty floor gave way as she stepped on it, sending her into a sewage pit about 6.5 feet deep.
Because there was no phone signal in the area, 90 miles southwest of Alice Springs, her family was forced to leave her behind and drive an hour north to the nearest town to find help.
The woman was stuck in the hole for three hours, covered in “deep s—,” before a passing worker rescued her, according to the NT News.
The 45-minute rescue was a difficult operation that required dismantling the toilet and lowering a tow rope into the hole to reach the woman.
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.
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