Fatal accident in Australia Cruise ship forgets woman on island - now she is dead
The authorities in Australia are investigating after an 80-year-old woman was found dead on an island on the Great Barrier Reef. She had been left behind by a cruise ship.
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- An 80-year-old female cruise passenger disappeared while hiking on Lizard Island and was found dead the next morning.
- The crew only noticed she was missing after casting off, returned and launched a search operation.
- The Australian Maritime Safety Authority has launched an investigation.
On Saturday, an 80-year-old woman had gone hiking with other passengers of the cruise ship "Coral Adventurer" on Lizard Island, 250 kilometers north of Cairns in northeastern Australia. She had presumably separated from the group to rest, as the BBC reports.
The cruise ship left the island again at sunset. After a few hours, however, the "Coral Adventurer" reached Lizard Island again - the crew had noticed that the woman was missing in the meantime.
A large-scale search operation followed. According to the report, the woman's body was found on Sunday morning.
The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (Amsa) has launched an investigation, according to a statement. An Amsa spokesperson said that the authority was first informed of the woman's disappearance by the ship's captain at around 9 p.m. local time on Saturday.
"Offering full support to the family"
According to Mark Fifield, Managing Director of Coral Expeditions, his staff have been in contact with the woman's family. "While the investigation into the incident is ongoing, we deeply regret that this has happened and offer our full support to the woman's family," Fifield is quoted as saying.
It is understood that the woman was on the first leg of a 60-day cruise around Australia. According to the company's website, the "Coral Adventurer" offers space for up to 120 guests and 46 crew members. It was specially built to reach remote areas of the Australian coast.
