A routine stop has turned into a nightmare after a long drop toilet gave way, leaving a tourist trapped in waste for hours before help arrived. WARNING: Gr

A family road trip took a shocking turn when a toilet collapsed.

WARNING: Graphic images.

What should have been a routine stop on an outback road trip turned into a surreal rescue operation when a tourist was left trapped waist-deep in a collapsed toilet pit in the Northern Territory.

The woman, believed to be visiting from Canberra with her family, was using a long drop toilet at the Henbury Meteorite Craters, about 145km south of Alice Sprince, when the structure beneath her suddenly gave way.

Instead of a standard plumbed system, the toilet was a simple long drop, essentially a seat over a deep pit, which failed without warning, sending her plunging about two metres below.

She landed in the waste below, which reportedly reached waist height, and remained trapped there as her husband and two children left the site to find help, travelling to Stuart Well, which was located more than 50km away.

The ordeal stretched on for hours in the extreme isolation of the outback, before an unexpected rescuer arrived.

A toilet failure in the outback triggered a strange and prolonged rescue.A toilet failure in the outback triggered a strange and prolonged rescue. Credit: Supplied

A local tradie, who had been nearby showing the site to a friend, came across the situation and stepped in.

“The lady was stuck waist high in waste,” a witness said on social media.

“There’s s…, literal nappies, pis, all in that hole.”

The woman was trapped for hours.The woman was trapped for hours. Credit: Supplied

Using tools from his vehicle, the man dismantled part of the structure and broke through the surrounding walls before rigging a system to haul the woman back to the surface.

After nearly three hours, she was pulled free, suffering only minor cuts.

Imaged from the site later showed the toilet structure destroyed and cordoned off with caution tape. Authorities have since launched an investigation into how the collapse occurred.

News.com.au reported that an NT WorkSafe spokesman confirmed the incident was being treated as a dangerous structure failure.

“NT WorkSafe has been notified of an incident where a tourist fell into a sewage pit at the Henbury Meteorites Conservation Zone on Sunday afternoon,” he said.

“The notification was made by the agency with management of the conservation zone as a collapse or partial collapse of a structure, which is a dangerous incident under the work health and safety laws.

“Initial inquiries indicate a toilet fell into the sewage pit, causing the tourist to also fall into the pit.”