An explosion destroyed a Brazilian research base in Antarctica on Saturday, killing two navy personnel and injuring a third, authorities said.
Brazilian Defense Minister Celso Amorim confirmed the deaths of non-commissioned officer Carlos Alberto Vieira Figueiredo and Sergeant Roberto Lopes dos Santos, who had earlier been reported missing.
“In an act of heroism, they were precisely in the area of major risk in a bid to extinguish a fire and they did not succeed,” Amorim said.
Photo: AFP / Chilean Navy
Brazilian Navy Sergeant Luciano Gomes Medeiros was also lightly injured in the blast, which occurred after a fire in a room housing energy generators of the Comandante Ferraz research base located in Admiralty Bay, King George Island, near the tip of the Antarctic Peninsula.
He was first treated at a nearby Arctowski Polish Antarctic station and later transferred to the Chilean Eduardo Frei military base.
Meanwhile, the Chilean Defense Ministry confirmed that a joint Chilean-Brazilian team found the bodies of the two Brazilian personnel who had been reported missing after the fire.
“The bodies were found near the stricken base” and will be transferred to the Eduardo Frei base, it added.
Chilean Defense Minister -Andres Allamand told CNN TV that the Brazilian base “was completely destroyed” by the explosion.
The blast also forced dozens of researchers to evacuate.
Earlier, Amorim relayed news of the accident to Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff after being informed by the Brazilian naval chief, Admiral Julio Soares de Moura Neto.
Amorim was also briefed on measures taken to contain the fire and to assist the personnel at the base, his office said.
Military personnel were trying to bring the fire under control, a Brazilian Navy statement said earlier.
About 30 researchers, one alpinist and a Brazilian environment ministry representative who were at the base during the explosion were evacuated by helicopter to the Eduardo Frei base.
The Argentine Air Force agreed to fly them to the southern Chilean city of Punta Arenas, the Brazilian Navy said.
According to the Chilean Air Force, 42 Brazilians and two Spaniards were evacuated to Punta Arenas.
It added that other people affected by the fire had been taken to the Eduardo Frei base, which was providing medical support.
Two Argentine Navy vessels and two others from the Polish Antarctic station were in the area, providing support along with three Chilean helicopters. Brazil’s Polar Research Vessel Almirante Maximiano was en route to the area after sailing from Punta Arenas.
The Brazilian Air Force also sent a C-130 Hercules aircraft to Punta Arenas to repatriate the Brazilian evacuees.
The defense ministry said Amorim telephoned his Chilean counterpart, Andres Allamand ,to thank him for his country’s assistance.
The Comandante Ferraz base, which was established in 1984, -conducts biological science research focused on coastal and shelf marine ecosystems.
About 30 countries, all signatories to the Antarctic Treaty, operate seasonal and year-round research stations on Antarctica.
The treaty, which entered into force in 1961 and currently has 49 signatory nations, sets aside Antarctica as a scientific preserve, establishes freedom of scientific investigation and bans military activity on the continent.
BOMBARDMENT: Moscow sent more than 440 drones and 32 missiles, Volodymyr Zelenskiy said, in ‘one of the most terrifying strikes’ on the capital in recent months A nighttime Russian missile and drone bombardment of Ukraine killed at least 15 people and injured 116 while they slept in their homes, local officials said yesterday, with the main barrage centering on the capital, Kyiv. Kyiv City Military Administration head Tymur Tkachenko said 14 people were killed and 99 were injured as explosions echoed across the city for hours during the night. The bombardment demolished a nine-story residential building, destroying dozens of apartments. Emergency workers were at the scene to rescue people from under the rubble. Russia flung more than 440 drones and 32 missiles at Ukraine, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy
‘SHORTSIGHTED’: Using aid as leverage is punitive, would not be regarded well among Pacific Island nations and would further open the door for China, an academic said New Zealand has suspended millions of dollars in budget funding to the Cook Islands, it said yesterday, as the relationship between the two constitutionally linked countries continues to deteriorate amid the island group’s deepening ties with China. A spokesperson for New Zealand Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters said in a statement that New Zealand early this month decided to suspend payment of NZ$18.2 million (US$11 million) in core sector support funding for this year and next year as it “relies on a high trust bilateral relationship.” New Zealand and Australia have become increasingly cautious about China’s growing presence in the Pacific
Indonesia’s Mount Lewotobi Laki-Laki yesterday erupted again with giant ash and smoke plumes after forcing evacuations of villages and flight cancelations, including to and from the resort island of Bali. Several eruptions sent ash up to 5km into the sky on Tuesday evening to yesterday afternoon. An eruption on Tuesday afternoon sent thick, gray clouds 10km into the sky that expanded into a mushroom-shaped ash cloud visible as much as 150km kilometers away. The eruption alert was raised on Tuesday to the highest level and the danger zone where people are recommended to leave was expanded to 8km from the crater. Officers also
ESPIONAGE: The British government’s decision on the proposed embassy hinges on the security of underground data cables, a former diplomat has said A US intervention over China’s proposed new embassy in London has thrown a potential resolution “up in the air,” campaigners have said, amid concerns over the site’s proximity to a sensitive hub of critical communication cables. The furor over a new “super-embassy” on the edge of London’s financial district was reignited last week when the White House said it was “deeply concerned” over potential Chinese access to “the sensitive communications of one of our closest allies.” The Dutch parliament has also raised concerns about Beijing’s ideal location of Royal Mint Court, on the edge of the City of London, which has so
RSS