The woman, aged in her 80s, left the vessel to go onshore and visit the island but reportedly failed to board the boat in time before it departed the popular tourist island
An elderly woman, who was solo travelling on board a Coral Expeditions cruise has been found dead on a remote island off the North Queensland coast.
The woman aged in her 80s ‘failed to return’ to a cruise ship when it docked at Lizard Island, about 250km northeast of Cairns in the Great Barrier Reef, on Saturday. Lizard Island is surrounded by coral reefs and is renowned for scuba diving and snorkelling.
The woman left the vessel to go onshore and visit the island but failed to board the boat before it departed. Her death is being treated as “sudden and non-suspicious”.
Coral Expeditions chief executive Mark Fifield told The Australian that the woman died while on an excursion at Lizard Island. He said: “On Saturday, 25 October, the crew notified authorities that a woman was missing, and a search-and-rescue operation was launched on land and sea,” he said.
“Following the operation, Coral Expeditions was notified by Queensland Police that the woman had been found deceased on Lizard Island.
“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.
“The Coral team have been in contact with the woman’s family, and we will continue to offer support to them through this difficult process.
“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.”
It is understood emergency services were alerted on Saturday evening that the woman failed to return to the boat. Her body was found on Sunday morning.
A police spokesman said there was nothing suspicious about the death.
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