Family slam cruise company 'failure' after gran found dead on remote island
Family slam cruise company 'failure' after gran found dead on remote island
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Family slam cruise company 'failure' after gran found dead on remote island

Bradley Jolly,Stephen Bark 🕒︎ 2025-11-11

Copyright dailyrecord

Family slam cruise company 'failure' after gran found dead on remote island

A gran who found dead on a remote island after becoming stranded from a cruise ship has been named. Suzanne Rees, 80, was reported missing after she failed to arrive for dinner, some five hours after she vanished on Lizard Island in Queensland, Australia. Her family have blasted the "failure of care and common sense" by Coral Expeditions, owned by National Roads and Motorists' Association (NRMA) in Australia, reports the Mirror . Ms Rees had been on an organised hike on Lizard Island but fell ill and was unable to make it back to the cruise ship before departed for its next stop. An investigation has been launched after the 80-year-old solo traveller died during the first stop of the 60-day circumnavigation of Australia - a near £40,000 cruise. Lizard Island is roughly 1,600 km north east of Brisbane and 95 km north east of Cooktown, its closest population centre. The ship departed from Cairns, in Queensland, on Friday, October 24 before it anchored off the coast of Lizard Island the following day. Ms Rees' body was found 50 m off the Cook's Look hiking trail which leads to the island's highest summit, on Sunday. A multi-agency investigation has been launched to find out how and why Ms Rees did not make it back onto the ship as well as probing allegations a passenger count was not conducted before the vessel left. The ship had anchored off Lizard Island on Saturday, where passengers could take a smaller boat to hike and snorkel on the resort island. On Sunday, the vessel departed Lizard Island at around 1pm and, once Ms Rees was reported missing, a helicopter led a search of the island. The 112-passenger ship allegedly returned to shore and it is thought crew members assisted with the search. Coral Expeditions' chief executive Mark Fifield confirmed the death to the press. He said: "The crew notified authorities that a woman was missing, and a search and rescue operation was launched on land and sea. "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 has 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 underway." Police said that the death was being treated as "sudden and non-suspicious". In a statement, Tourism Tropical North Queensland said it extended sympathies to the woman's family and "as there is an active investigation we are awaiting further details". A report will be prepared for the coroner .

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