Pit toilets are basic, non-flush latrines that collect human waste in a deep hole in the ground. They are common in remote or rural areas, such as off-grid camping sites.
NT WorkSafe, which regulates workplace health and safety in the territory, said the agency managing the Henbury conservation zone had notified it of the incident.
An investigation is ongoing, NT WorkSafe said.
An eyewitness told local news outlet NT News that the woman’s husband managed to get the attention of the tradesman, who lowered a rope into the pit for the woman to hang on ton then used his car to lift her out.
The process took over 45 minutes, said the unnamed eyewitness, who told NT News that there were “literal nappies”, excrement and urine in the hole.
The woman was taken to the hospital but did not suffer serious injuries, reports say.
This is not the first time accidents involving pit toilets have happened in Australia.
In July 2024, firefighters had to pull apart one such toilet in Indigo Valley in the state of Victoria after a man got stranded in it.
And in 2012, a 65-year-old woman was airlifted to the hospital after falling back-first into a pit toilet in central Queensland. She fractured her leg in the tumble, according to The Courier Mail.
