Antarctic base "under control" after researcher accused colleague of assault, South Africa says

Johannesburg — It sounds like the plot of a horror movie. Researchers stuck on a remote research base in Antarctica send an email out to the world, pleading for help as a colleague is accused of assault.

But this was real. An urgent email was sent by a researcher at South Africa's isolated Sanae IV base in Antarctica accusing a man, one of the nine team members, of becoming violent and mentally unstable. In the email sent to a journalist at South Africa's Sunday Times newspaper, the researcher, who has not been identified publicly, requests immediate action to ensure the team's safety.

According to the Times, the researcher alleged that the male team member had physically assaulted a colleague, threatened to kill a different colleague and sexually assaulted another. However, South African officials later said the report of a sexual assault was not correct.