Trapped Antarctic Scientists Plead for Rescue Amid Fear after Assault

[Social Media]

 

A team of South African scientists stationed at the isolated Sanae IV Antarctic base has made a desperate plea for rescue after a researcher allegedly attacked colleagues and threatened to kill one of them. With ten months remaining before they can be evacuated, the group is stranded 2,500 miles from home, completely cut off by extreme weather and shifting ice floes.

 

The distressing message, which surfaced through South Africa’sTimes, painted a picture of a team living in constant fear—not of the harsh Antarctic conditions, but of one of their own. “Regrettably, [his] behaviour has escalated to a point that is deeply disturbing,” the email stated.

 

 

“Specifically, he physically assaulted [name withheld], which is a grave violation of personal safety and workplace norms.” The email also claimed that the individual had threatened to kill a team member, further heightening the tension within the isolated group. “I remain deeply concerned about my own safety, constantly wondering if I might become the next victim,” the author wrote.

 

 

Even more disturbing, the researcher in question was accused of sexually assaulting another team member. “His behaviour has become increasingly egregious, and I am experiencing significant difficulty in feeling secure in his presence,” the message continued. “It is imperative that immediate action is taken to ensure my safety and the safety of all employees.”

 

Based on a report by The Times  2025-03-20

 

 

 

 

[nglodnig]

Worse thing is the reseacher is continually changing shape so they don't know what he looks anymore 🙂 ("John Carpenter "The Thing" anyone?)

[rwill]

I guess they have no means of restraining him.

[tomazbodner]

3 minutes ago, rwill said:

I guess they have no means of restraining him.

Throw him out and lock the door?

[spidermike007]

5 minutes ago, rwill said:

I guess they have no means of restraining him.

Which is a rather bizarre thing when you're talking about 60 against 1.

 

In a place like Antarctica one would think that it would be quite easy to contain one rotten or aggressive individual.

 

There's something about this story that doesn't smell right. And when there's a rank spell in the air it often means there is rotten fish in the vicinity. 

[simon43]

Kick him out into the cold to fight with the polar bears...

 

oh wait a minute!!  My globe was upside down... 🙂

[FlorC]

South African ?

It is kind of in their nature , isn't it?

https://theconversation.com/rape-is-endemic-in-south-africa-why-the-anc-government-keeps-missing-the-mark-188235

[BangkokReady]

15 minutes ago, spidermike007 said:

Which is a rather bizarre thing when you're talking about 60 against 1.

 

In a place like Antarctica one would think that it would be quite easy to contain one rotten or aggressive individual.

 

There's something about this story that doesn't smell right. And when there's a rank spell in the air it often means there is rotten fish in the vicinity. 

 

Maybe the guy is Black and the team is full of left-wing idiots so they don't want to do anything about it?

[connda]

Send the team a copy of The Thing (1982).  Perhaps that will jog a couple of idea.
 

 

[Harrisfan]

Where is TBL?

[mfd101]

With modern technology they should at least be able to record their final words. Like, for instance: "I'm just going outside and may be some time."

[thaibeachlovers]

30 minutes ago, rwill said:

I guess they have no means of restraining him.

Fireaxe to the back of the head solves that problem.

 

I guess there are no military trained guys on base, or it wouldn't be a problem. Easiest solution would be him ( I assume it's a him, though I count 8 females in the photo ) wandering off in the night or a white out and falling off the cliff.

 

However, had they done that after their silly call for help, the obvious conclusion would be that it was not an accident.

 

It was a silly call, because in winter no one can hear you scream you are on your own, unless working for a very rich country like the US. All of us ( I wintered over ) knew that if it went bad for us, there was no ambulance service coming.

 

As one with an interest in the psychology of teams in isolated situations, I'm intrigued about the relationship between the 8 women and the 21 men. Luckily we had none overwinter, but the Americans had one female and 100 men. That was "interesting" to say the least. We did have 2 permanent females during summer, and as Spock was won't to say, "fascinating".

 

PS. There were one or two that were lucky to survive the winter on our base ( 11 guys ).

[soalbundy]

33 minutes ago, spidermike007 said:

Which is a rather bizarre thing when you're talking about 60 against 1.

 

In a place like Antarctica one would think that it would be quite easy to contain one rotten or aggressive individual.

 

There's something about this story that doesn't smell right. And when there's a rank spell in the air it often means there is rotten fish in the vicinity. 

How should they restrain him for 10 months? It's not as if they have a prison cell there with a self contained toilet, the guy is having a psychotic issue and lives among them.

[WDSmart]

Just capture him, tie him up, and put him outside for the night. Job done! 

[thaibeachlovers]

22 minutes ago, Harrisfan said:

Where is TBL?

I'm here. I do have a life that isn't on AN. I just logged on, and I've replied.

 

I do have to say though, that our pre training did not cover how to deal with bad guys. I guess that back then they assumed some of us would deal with it. No woke people on base. No, we did not have a psychological evaluation before departure.

[thaibeachlovers]

51 minutes ago, tomazbodner said:

Throw him out and lock the door?

Doors don't have locks. In event of a fire we had minutes to evacuate. A locked door would have resulted in dead people.

[Aussie999]

38 minutes ago, BangkokReady said:

 

Maybe the guy is Black and the team is full of left-wing idiots so they don't want to do anything about it?

SMH... I guess someone had to try and make it racist.. congratulations.

[thaibeachlovers]

52 minutes ago, spidermike007 said:

Which is a rather bizarre thing when you're talking about 60 against 1.

 

In a place like Antarctica one would think that it would be quite easy to contain one rotten or aggressive individual.

 

There's something about this story that doesn't smell right. And when there's a rank spell in the air it often means there is rotten fish in the vicinity. 

That means nothing if no one is trained. It would turn into a disaster. Assuming he was restrained, it would be very difficult to keep him segregated. No jail cells and he is only there to do a job, which might be a problem if he was an essential worker, like base engineer.

[spidermike007]

8 minutes ago, soalbundy said:

How should they restrain him for 10 months? It's not as if they have a prison cell there with a self contained toilet, the guy is having a psychotic issue and lives among them.

It depends on how dangerous the guy is if he's of the life-threatening variety then you just leave them out on the ice for a month the cold or the creatures will take care of him. 

 

If he's less lethal, then you keep him sedated, or tied up or locked in a storage closet with a bowl, and you feed him once a day, there are solutions. 

[Aussie999]

9 minutes ago, soalbundy said:

How should they restrain him for 10 months? It's not as if they have a prison cell there with a self contained toilet, the guy is having a psychotic issue and lives among them.

I guess the same thing as if on the moon, on Mars, on a spaceship, on the ISS...the person would be mmm.. unalived.

[connda]

Of course, there is always the Dr. Blair treatment. 

"Come 'on McReady, let me back in."
 

 

[connda]

59 minutes ago, spidermike007 said:

Which is a rather bizarre thing when you're talking about 60 against 1.

Exactly.  I find it even more concerning that they never thought these scenarios out in advance.

[thaibeachlovers]

9 minutes ago, WDSmart said:

Just capture him, tie him up, and put him outside for the night. Job done! 

Cue the plod interrogating everyone. They should have not sent any messages, thrown him off the cliff and claimed it was an accident. Of course with that many people there is no way it wouldn't leak out anyway.

[hotchilli]

2 hours ago, nglodnig said:

Worse thing is the reseacher is continually changing shape so they don't know what he looks anymore 🙂 ("John Carpenter "The Thing" anyone?)

Good movie

[thaibeachlovers]

Just now, hotchilli said:

Good movie

There has been at least 3 movies. Which do you think was best? I only saw the first 2 and liked Kurt Russel version better.

[thaibeachlovers]

Apologies, the photo I was looking at ( top of the page ) is from 2014, so I have no idea how many men/ women are there now.

[BangkokReady]

1 hour ago, Aussie999 said:

SMH... I guess someone had to try and make it racist.. congratulations.

 

What's racist about what I wrote?

[Harrisfan]

3 hours ago, thaibeachlovers said:

That means nothing if no one is trained. It would turn into a disaster. Assuming he was restrained, it would be very difficult to keep him segregated. No jail cells and he is only there to do a job, which might be a problem if he was an essential worker, like base engineer.

They should have 2 bodyguards.

[Kinok Farang]

5 hours ago, BangkokReady said:

 

Maybe the guy is Black and the team is full of left-wing idiots so they don't want to do anything about it?

Or worse,a black trans woman perhaps.

[Kinok Farang]

4 hours ago, Aussie999 said:

SMH... I guess someone had to try and make it racist.. congratulations.

And someone had to get their virtue signalling in too.

Congratulations.