Scientists at the base of the Sanae IV rocked the alleged assault

A group of scientists who suffer from work together for several months was threatened at a remote Antarctica research station after a member of the team was accused of physical assault.

A team of nine researchers was scheduled to spend the winter in Antarctica at the South African base, which is run by about 170 km (about 105 miles) from the edge of the ice shelf and difficult to reach.

But a South African government spokesman told BBC, “There was an attack” at the station, following previous allegations of inappropriate behavior from inside the camp.

In another message that the BBC saw, the South African Ministry of Environment had been responding to fears “with the utmost urgent need.”

The Sunday Times in South Africa, which was the first to inform the story, said the team members had defended their rescue.

The ministry said that those in the team were subject to “a number of assessments that include examination of the background, reference checks, and medical evaluation, as well as the psychotropic evaluation by qualified professionals”, which all members wiped.

In a later statement, the ministry added that it is “not uncommon” for individuals to have a preliminary amendment when they reach very remote areas even if the assessments did not appear any areas of concern.

He said that when the ship left for Antarctica on February 1, “everything was in a state,” and the accident was first informed to the ministry on February 27.

The department added, “The stimulating the plan to respond immediately in order to mediate relations and restore them at Al Qaeda,” the statement added.

“This process continues almost daily in order to ensure that those in the base knows that the administration is supportive and ready to do everything required to restore personal relationships, but also in dealing with discipline cases,” she said.

The administration said that the allegations of sexual harassment were being investigated, but sexual assault reports were incorrect.

The administration added that the Minister of Government was dealing with the accident, and that the alleged perpetrator “participated in a good mind in more psychological evaluation, and showed remorse, which is a cooperative about Tayeb Khater to follow up on any recommended interventions.”

She said the alleged perpetrator also wrote an official apology to the victim.

The Sanae IV research base is more than 4000 km from the mainland of South Africa, and harsh weather conditions mean that scientists can be cut there throughout the year.

The base usually includes employees who remain during the winter in Antarctica for about 13 months.

Research missions have been conducted in South Africa since 1959. The team is usually composed to the Sanae IV base from a doctor, mechanics, three engineers, meteorologists and two physicists.

These campaigns, with harsh weather conditions that impose a lot of time you spend in a confined internal space, are usually operated without an accident.

But on Sunday, the Sunday Times stated in South Africa that a team member had sent an email to warn of “very disturbing behavior” by a colleague and “an environment of fear”.

A South African government spokesman told the BBC that the alleged attack had led to “a conflict over the task that the team leader wanted to carry out the weather -dependent task that requires changing the table.”

Accidents on the Antarctica are rare, but they are not unprecedented. In 2018, there were reports of stabbing at the Russian Bellingshausen research station.

Psychologists refer to the effect of isolation on human behavior.

“One of the things we know from these rare events, when something bad happens in forced isolation or work, is that it is often small things, and the small things that can explode in the conflict,” said Craig Jackson, professor of health psychology at the workplace at the University of Birmingham City, and a legal member of the British Psychological Association.

“So, problems related to hierarchy, allocating the work burden, and even small things around free time, shares, or food parts can swing quickly to become much larger than they are,” he told the BBC.

Gabriel Walker, the scientist and author who was on campaigns on the Antarctica, said that work is close to a small group of colleagues.

“You know exactly how to put a cup of coffee down and the direction that the handle refers to; you know that they scratch their nose three times before sitting; you know everything about it.

“In bad circumstances, you can start irritating you … because there is nothing else – there is no other incentive and you are with people 24/7,” she said.

The sources within the research community in Antarctica BBC have told South Africa to have access to a ship and a capable of ice if necessary.

But any rescue process must deal with the harsh climate, with much lower temperatures of freezing and the possibility of strong winds.

Additional reports by Ed Habirchon and Mihu Chi.