Antarctic station worker accused of physical assault and death threat

A member of a South African research team isolated on a remote Antarctic base has accused a colleague of physical assault and making a death threat and has pleaded for "immediate action" to be taken.

- Rachel Savage

The accusations were made in an email sent from the base that was shared with the South African newspaper the Sunday Times.

The person making the allegations said they feared for their and their colleagues' safety at South Africa's Sanae IV research base, the newspaper reported, quoting the email it said was sent last month.

South Africa's environment minister, Dion George, whose department manages the country's Antarctic programme, confirmed an assault had taken place and said he was "considering options", without specifying what these were.

"An intervention is in place," he said. "The person who assaulted the team leader is remorseful and has been psychologically re-evaluated willingly."

Asked what had triggered the alleged assault, George said: "It was a dispute over a task the team leader wanted the team to do - a weather-dependent task that required a schedule change."