Girl dies after being left behind by cruise ship on Australian island

An 80-year-old Australian girl has been discovered lifeless on a Great Barrier Reef island after being left behind by the cruise ship she was travelling on.

The girl had been mountain climbing on Lizard Island, 250km (155 miles) north of Cairns, with fellow passengers from the Coral Adventurer cruise ship on Saturday however is believed to have damaged off from the group to have a relaxation.

The ship left the island round sundown however returned a number of hours later after the crew realised the girl was lacking. A significant search operation discovered her physique on Sunday morning. No particulars have been launched.

The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (Amsa) stated it was investigating and would meet the ship’s crew later this week.

It is known the girl, who has not been named, was on the primary cease of a 60-day cruise round Australia, with tickets costing within the tens of hundreds of {dollars} for the journey.

She had joined a bunch hike to the island’s highest peak, Cook’s Look, earlier than she determined she wanted to relaxation, in accordance with the Courier Mail newspaper.

But she didn’t make it again to the ship, which then departed with out her.

Incidents like this are uncommon, and cruise ships have methods to file which passengers are embarking or disembarking, Harriet Mallinson, cruise editor of journey web site Sailawaze informed the BBC.

“Sneaking ashore or [back] onboard just isn’t an option,” she stated.

Cruise strains take these procedures very critically and have “clever tech in place to prevent such incidents from happening. This is most likely a shocking – and tragic – one-off”, Ms Mallinson added.

Traci Ayris was crusing close to the island final weekend and told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) that she noticed a helicopter utilizing a highlight to go looking a strolling path on the island at round midnight on Saturday.

She stated about seven individuals with torches went to the island to go looking nevertheless it was known as off at round 03:00 on Sunday (18:00 GMT Saturday) with a helicopter returning on Sunday morning when the physique was apparently discovered.

“We knew she was dead because they called everyone back from the search immediately,” she informed ABC.

“And no-one went to the spot that the chopper was hovering over until later that day when the police arrived.”

A spokesperson for Amsa stated it was first alerted to the lacking girl at round 21:00 on Saturday by the ship’s captain.

The authority stated it could work with different related businesses to research the case and that it takes the security of passengers and crew onboard industrial vessels critically.

Ms Ayris additionally stated the incident was clearly distressing for crew and passengers.

“It was very sad in this paradise to have this tragedy occur. It should have been a happy time for that lovely lady.”

A report into the “sudden and non-suspicious death” of the girl will probably be ready for the coroner, Queensland police stated.

Coral Expeditions chief government Mark Fifield stated employees had contacted the girl’s household and have been providing help over the “tragic death”.

“While investigations into the incident are continuing, we are deeply sorry that this has occurred and are offering our full support to the woman’s family,” Mr Fifield stated.

“We are working closely with Queensland Police and other authorities to support their investigation. We are unable to comment further while this process is under way,” he added.

The Coral Adventurer caters for as much as 120 company with 46 crew, in accordance with the corporate’s web site. It was purpose-built to entry distant areas of Australia’s coast and is supplied with “tenders” – small boats used to take passengers on day excursions.

The vessel has continued its voyage to Darwin.

Additional reporting by Tom McArthur