A WOMAN on a road trip has taken an unexpected detour after she became trapped waist deep in poo for three hours when an outdoor loo collapsed.
She had been travelling through the Australian outback with her husband and two children when they stopped to use the pit toilet – a hole in the ground beneath a toilet bowl.
The woman fell into the 6.5 foot deep hole when the rusty toilet bowl collapsed beneath her feet Credit: Facebook/Action for Alice 2020
She was stranded in the human waste for at least three hours Credit: Facebook/Action for Alice 2020
To her shock, when she stepped into the toilet, the rusty floor caved in, leaving her stuck in the 6.5 foot deep sewage pit.
Northern Territory authorities said she remained trapped in the pit for an estimated three hours, until she was “rescued by a local tradesman who happened to be passing by”.
After visiting relatives in Darwin, the woman had been on her way home to Canberra when the rusty infrastructure gave way, according to the Action for Alive community page.
Due to lack of phone signal in the remote region, the woman’s family was forced to leave her stranded, an hour north in search of help.
Located in the Henbury Meteorites Conservation Zone, the toilet is around 90 miles southwest of the remote town Alice Springs.
NT News reported that an eyewitness said the woman’s husband had managed to get the attention of the passing tradesman.
The tradie had then lowered a rope into the pit for the woman to hang onto.
Once she was secured, he used his car to lift her out of the hole.
The entire rescue operation took more than 45 minutes, another witness said.
“Literal nappies, poo and urine” were all in the hole, the person told the local outlet.
“You couldn’t even see the toilet,” they said.
The woman was taken to hospital, however she did not suffer any serious injuries, only sustaining minor cuts.
She was said to be “incredibly shaken”.
Northern Territory WorkSafe – the government department that regulates and safety in the territory – said it had been notified of the toilet collapse by the agency that manages the Henbury conservation zone.
The department said it had launched an into the incident.
The toilet has since been cordoned off.
The toilet has since been closed to the public Credit: Facebook/Action for Alice 2020
The woman was “incredibly shaken” after the incident Credit: Facebook/Action for Alice 2020
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 post characterised the ordeal as a sign of “the decaying infrastructure of NT tourism.”
Online punters were horrified.
“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 said: “This is my biggest fear”.
“This is nightmare fuel,” a third wrote.
Others discussed the potential health risks.
A main concern for someone exposed to human waste is bacterial infections, parasites, hepatitis A and tetanus.
They would also be vulnerable to contracting skin infections.
Pit toilets are basic, non-flush lavatories that collect human waste in a deep hole in the ground.
They are common in rural and remote areas, including at off-grid camp sites.
The remote Henbury Meteorites Conservation Reserve is a popular tourist stop that offers a self-guided trail around a reserve that contains 12 craters.
It is not the first time a pit toilet has been at the centre of an accident in the land down under.
In 2024, firefighters were forced to disassemble a pit toilet in Indigo Valley after a man was stranded in it.
And in 2012, a 65-year-old woman was airlifted to hospital after she fell back first into a pit toilet in central Queensland.
She fractured her leg in the fall, the Courier Mail reported.
Eze Chidiebere Paul
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