'I've Seen People Who Have Lost It'

Crew at a remote Antarctic research station had no escape when a colleague allegedly turned violent. One former member shares his experience of life there

- by BARNEY HENDERSON

FOR MOST OF THE YEAR, SOUTH Africa's SANAE IV research station is one of the most isolated places on Earth: cut off from the rest of the world in the Antarctic for up to 10 months at a time and battered by some of the planet's harshest weather. Life at the base is tough—and, at times, terrifying.

In late February, crew members sent a desperate SOS message from the station, which sits on a cliff edge 105 miles inland from the ice shelf. They alleged that one of the nine-member team had assaulted and sexually harassed colleagues, made death threats and left them fearing for their lives.

But help is far away. The base lies some 2,500 miles south of Cape Town and a treacherous emergency medical evacuation to the nearest neighbors—a German base some 186 miles away—was ruled out. With no ships or planes operating in the Antarctic winter, and the SA Agulhas II not due to make its annual 10 to 15-day supply voyage from South Africa until December, escape is impossible.

For Lodrick Hlungwane, who spent three consecutive years living at SANAE IV, the recent crisis was disturbing but not surprising. “I've seen people who have completely lost it,” Hlungwane, 36, told Newsweek. “It's a very challenging place. If you isolate yourself, you're bound to lose it.”

It can be very scary, Hlungwane continued, especially if one of the team is struggling to adapt to the intense living conditions and behaving erratically. “It’s not for everyone,” he said.

Hlungwane, an electrical engineer from South Africa's Limpopo province, described the psychological toll of life at the base: “There was a guy who...had not totally lost it, but you could see he was not the same as when he went to Antarctica.