Fear in Antarctic base as research team member is accused of assault

CNN
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A member of a small South African research team at a remote Antarctic base has accused a colleague of assault and pleaded for intervention, officials have said.

A “response plan to engage the individuals involved” was “immediately activated,” officials from South Africa’s Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE), which supervises the base, said in a statement – but added that they had no plans to bring any of the team back home.

In the statement sent to CNN, in response to allegations made in an email from the research team, the DFFE said, “The alleged perpetrator has willingly participated in further psychological evaluation,…