An Australian cruise company has come under fire after an elderly passenger was found dead on an island in the Great Barrier Reef after being left behind by her ship following a hiking excursion.
According to The Australian newspaper, Suzanne Rees, an 80-year-old Sydney resident, was on the second day of a cruise circumnavigating the continent on Saturday when she disembarked the Coral Adventurer at Lizard Island.
Rees was reported missing after not showing up for dinner in the ship's dining room, about five hours after the ship had departed the island.
On Sunday, a search helicopter spotted her body about 55 yards off the hiking trail to the mountain lookout. Authorities said she appeared to have fallen off a cliff and deemed it a "non-suspicious death."
However, Rees' family has called out the cruise company.
"We are shocked and saddened that the Coral Adventurer left Lizard Island after an organised excursion without my Mum," the woman's daughter, Katherine Rees, said in a statement.
"From the little we have been told, it seems that there was a failure of care and common sense. We understand from the police that it was a very hot day, and Mum felt ill on the hill climb," added Rees. "She was asked to head down, unescorted. Then the ship left, apparently without doing a passenger count. At some stage in that sequence, or shortly after, Mum died, alone."
Coral Expeditions chief executive Mark Fifield expressed sorrow for the Rees family and confirmed that the company is cooperating with authorities as they investigate the death.
"We have expressed our heartfelt condolences to the Rees family and remain deeply sorry that this has occurred," Fifield said in a statement. "We continue to provide our full support to the Rees family through this difficult time."
The incident is currently being investigated by the Australian Maritime Safety Authority.
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