A woman has died after she was found unconscious on a party boat on Sydney Harbour.
The victim, who was in her late 30s, was among the approximately 100 people who were aboard the All Occasion Cruises' Lady Rose charter boat.
According to The Sydney Morning Herald, the woman was found passed out in one of the bathrooms when the vessel returned to White Bay Terminal in Balmain, in the city's inner west, shortly after 4 p.m. local time on Saturday afternoon (midnight on Friday ET).
Paramedics rushed at the marina but couldn't rescue the woman, who is understood to have been alone before the incident.
"She appears to have collapsed in the toilet where we found her," New South Wales Ambulance Inspector Giles Buchanan was quoted as saying by ABC.
"We're unsure exactly what has happened.
"She appears to have collapsed in the toilet where we found her and we've extricated her out from there to the back deck so we had sufficient room and a safe area to work on her.
"We have been comforting lots of participants at the party and on the boat, as well as the crew."
According to the police, a number of passengers noticed a strange smell but firefighters ruled out toxic fumes as the cause of death, as no suspicious substances were found.
"We did have the fire brigade […] check out the fumes," Buchanan added.
"They didn't appear to be noxious."
The boat, which is licensed to carry up to 475 people, was out on the harbour when the incident happened, forcing it to dock at Balmain, which is located on the western side of Johnston Bay, compared to the Sydney Opera House.
A second woman was found to be in a state of shock and was treated at the scene, before being hospitalized. A number of other passengers were also treated for similar symptoms.
"There were a number of other people on the boat that were treated, mainly for emotional shock and the disturbing nature of the scene," Buchanan told ABC.
"I believe all the people […] were on a party vessel for a birthday party, they're all friends or know the deceased."
New South Wales Police said it had opened an investigation and, according to The Sydney Morning Herald, forensic police arrived onto the scene about three hours after the boat returned to the marina.
"A crime scene has been established on the cruise boat as police conduct a full investigation," the police said.
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