Government officials said a member of the South African research team at an isolated base in Antarctica was psychologically evaluated after colleagues accused him of physical assault and sexual harassment.
The situation at the SANAE IV base was first reported in the Sunday Times newspaper in South Africa, which said it saw an email from team members to the authorities for help.
The email claimed the man had attacked the essential leader and posed a death threat, and the team members described it as “escalating to a disturbing level.” Team members said in an email that they were “very concerned about my own safety” and “constantly wondered if I would be the next victim.”
The South African Ministry of Environment, which oversees the research mission, responded to the report in a statement Monday night.
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The frozen part of the Ross Sea was photographed on Saturday, November 12, 2016 at Scott Base, Antarctica. (Mark Ralston/Pool Photo via AP, file)
According to the ministry, the alleged attack occurred on February 27. Officials and counselors intervene remotely with nine team members almost every day to “mediate and restore the base’s relationship.” The statement said.
The ministry said: “The so-called perpetrators are willing to participate in further psychological assessments, show remorse and are willing to cooperate.”
Sea view from Queen Maud Land. (Kanus/Ullstein Bild via Getty Images, file)
The ministry said the investigation is also studying so-called sexual harassment, although reports of sexual assault are false. There were no members of the team identified, officials said, and no incidents required any team members to return to Cape Town.
Fox News Digital contacted South Africa’s Ministry of Environment about the cause of the alleged physical attack, but did not hear it immediately.
The team, including scientists, doctors and engineers, will arrive at the distant base on February 1 and is expected to stay for about 13 months.
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The base is located on a cliff on Queen Maud’s land, surrounded by glacial ice sheets 2485 miles from South Africa.
Penguins walk on the shore of Bahia Almirantazgo in Antarctica on January 27, 2015. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko, file)
The team will live close to the hostile Antarctic winter, which begins in June for six months of darkness.
The ministry said each team member was evaluated, including psychology and medicine, to ensure they could deal with the “extreme nature of the Antarctic environment.”
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“Even if all assessments and assessments are not attracting attention, it is not uncommon for an individual to need to make a preliminary adjustment to the environment once he reaches the extremely remote area where the science base is located,” the ministry said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
