Stranded Danish family surrounded by crocodiles

A Danish family was forced to spend a night in an Australian national park known to be infested with crocodiles after a tour boat operator forgot to pick them up.

The family of five caught a shuttle boat to the Twin Falls area of the World Heritage-listed Kakadu National Park in the Northern Territory on July 6, but did not catch the return boat later that day.

The boat operator failed to notice their absence among the other tourists, and the family – including three children aged eight to 15 – was forced to spend the night in the park.

Kakadu National Park tourism manager Paul Styles said the family was quite upset when they were found the following morning.

“They were out there for 16 hours,” Styles said. “It was a distressing and very uncomfortable experience for them because there are signs around warning people about being aware of the dangers of crocodiles.”

Styles said that despite the warnings, no crocodiles had been sighted in the area this year.

He said the boat operator was monitored for two days following the incident, but would not be disciplined.

“It was an error of omission on behalf of the boat contractor,” he said. “We have a couple of checking processes and clearly on this occasion they didn’t work.”

A boat is now permanently moored at the popular Twin Falls area and an emergency call device will be installed to prevent tourists from being stranded in the future, he said.

The family, whose identity was not released, continued their holiday in Australia, despite the ordeal.

It was not the first time tourists have been left behind in Australia.

American tourists Tom and Eileen Lonergan are believed to have been eaten by sharks or drowned after a dive boat crew accidentally abandoned them on the Great Barrier Reef in 1998 in a tragedy that inspired last year’s movie Open Water.

Strict safety measures were imposed on Australia’s diving industry following the Lonergans’ disappearance.