Woman trapped in poo for three hours after toilet collapses while in middle of nowhere

George Bunn
Fri, 24 Apr 2026 21:51:27 +0000

A mother endured a harrowing ordeal in the Australian outback after plunging waist-deep into a sewage pit when a toilet floor gave way beneath her.

The woman, who was travelling with her husband and two children, became trapped for approximately three hours in the waste-filled hole at the Henbury Meteorites Conservation Zone, situated roughly 145 kilometres south-west of Alice Springs.

The family had been returning to their home in Canberra following a visit to relatives in Darwin when they stopped at the remote roadside facility on Sunday.

According to reports, the floor of the pit latrine had been weakened by rust before it collapsed, sending the woman plummeting nearly two metres into the human waste below.

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With no mobile phone coverage in the isolated location, the woman's husband and children were forced to drive to the nearest town to seek assistance, leaving her stranded alone in the pit.

Upon returning, the husband managed to flag down a passing tradesman who came to the rescue.

The workman dismantled part of the toilet structure, lowered a tow rope into the hole, and used his vehicle to haul the woman to safety.

The extraction process took more than 45 minutes, according to an eyewitness who spoke to local outlet NT News.

The witness described the conditions inside the pit as containing "literal nappies", faeces and urine.

The woman was subsequently transported to hospital in Alice Springs, where she was found to have sustained only minor cuts and no serious injuries.

NT WorkSafe, the territory's workplace health and safety regulator, confirmed it had launched an investigation into what it classified as a "dangerous incident" under occupational safety legislation.

The agency stated it had been notified by the body responsible for managing the conservation zone, noting that the collapse of a structure falls within its regulatory remit.

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"Initial inquiries indicate a toilet fell into the sewage pit, causing the tourist to also fall into the pit," the regulator said.

Part of the conservation zone has been cordoned off whilst authorities examine the cause of the structural failure.

Local community groups have condemned the incident as emblematic of deteriorating infrastructure in the region.

The Action for Alice blogging site remarked: "Somebody's in a lot of s*** for this one."

Pit toilets, which are basic non-flush latrines that collect waste in deep underground holes, remain widespread across remote and off-grid areas of Australia, including roadside stops and camping sites.

This latest incident is not an isolated occurrence.

In July 2024, emergency services in Victoria's Indigo Valley were required to dismantle a similar toilet structure to free a man who had become trapped inside, with the rescue operation lasting approximately half an hour before he could be extracted and taken to hospital.

An earlier accident in 2012 proved more serious, when a 65-year-old woman had to be airlifted to hospital after falling backwards into a pit toilet in central Queensland, suffering a fractured leg in the process.