Cruise passenger found dead after being accidentally abandoned on Australian island:

An 80-year-old cruise passenger was found dead on a Great Barrier Reef island, a day after the ship’s crew accidentally abandoned her there.

The passenger’s daughter, Katherine Rees, accused the cruise company Coral Expeditions on Thursday of a “lack of care and common sense” that left her mother Suzanne Rees to die alone.

Sydney resident Suzanne Rees was on the second day of a cruise circumnavigating Australia when she disembarked from the Coral Adventurer last Saturday at Lizard Island. He planned to walk with other passengers to a viewpoint on the mountain.

The ship left the resort island about five hours before it was reported missing Saturday night, authorities said.

“We are shocked and saddened that the Coral Adventurer left Lizard Island after an organized excursion without my mother,” Katherine Rees, who also lives in Sydney, said in a statement.

“From what little we have been told, it seems there was a lack of care and common sense. The police told us that it was a very hot day and Mom felt unwell on the way up the hill. They asked her to go down without an escort. Then the boat left, apparently without counting the passengers. At some point in that sequence, or shortly after, Mom died alone,” the daughter added.

Rob Siganto, who was moored near Lizard Island over the weekend, told the Australian Broadcasting Corp. that around midnight, a search helicopter arrived at the island.

“We heard the conversation on the radio. They were looking for someone and the last known location was halfway up the hill,” Siganto told ABC.

The helicopter crew spotted Suzanne Rees’ body the next day about 55 meters from the hiking trail to the lookout, The Australian newspaper reported.

He appeared to have fallen off a cliff or slope, the newspaper said.

Katherine Rees said she hoped a coroner’s inquest would “find out what the company should have done to have saved mum’s life”.

Police said in a statement that a coroner would investigate the “non-suspicious death.” The coroner’s court also confirmed that the death had been referred for investigation.

“I am deeply sorry that this happened.”

Coral Expeditions chief executive Mark Fifield said his company was cooperating fully with official investigations into the death. He said it would be inappropriate to comment while those investigations were underway.

“We have expressed our deepest condolences to the Rees family and are deeply sorry that this has occurred,” Fifield said in a statement.

“We continue to provide our full support to the Rees family at this difficult time,” he added.

The Coral Adventurer can accommodate up to 120 guests, and some rooms feature private balconies, according to the company’s website.

The Australian Maritime Safety Authority, a safety regulator, is investigating why Rees may have been overlooked when passengers were boarding at Lizard Island.

The authority also said it would meet the ship’s crew when it docks in Darwin later this week, BBC News reported.

The tragedy is also being investigated by a workplace safety watchdog.

Rees was first noticed missing when he failed to appear in the ship’s dining room for dinner, the newspaper said.

The cruise ship returned to Lizard Island early Sunday morning.

Incidents like this are rare and cruise ships have systems to record which passengers board or disembark, Harriet Mallinson, cruise editor at travel website Sailawaze, told the BBC.

“Sneak ashore or [back] on board is simply not an option,” he said.

Australia’s safety standards for its Great Barrier Reef tourism industry came under intense scrutiny after American couple Tom and Eileen Lonergan were abandoned at sea during a group dive in 1998. The crew of the tour boat did not notice they were missing until two days later. The Lonergans’ bodies were never found.