Two Missing in Blast at Brazil's Antarctic Base
An explosion caused by a fire left one navy personnel wounded and two others missing at a Brazilian base in Antarctica early Saturday and forced dozens of researchers to evacuate, authorities said.
The Brazilian Navy said the fire broke out in a room housing energy generators of the Comandante Ferraz Antarctic Base, a research station located in Admiralty Bay, King George Island, near the tip of the Antarctic Peninsula.
Defense Minister Celso Amorim relayed news of the accident to President Dilma Rousseff after being informed by the Brazilian naval chief, Admiral Julio Soares de Moura Neto, his office said.
Amorim was briefed on measures taken to contain the fire and to assist the personnel present at the base.
The defense ministry meanwhile identified the two missing as non-commissioned officer Carlos Alberto Vieira Figueiredo and sergeant Roberto Lopes dos Santos.
A navy spokeswoman contacted by Agence France Presse said she could not confirm reports from Argentina that the two missing were dead.
The injured, named as navy sergeant Luciano Gomes Medeiros, was first treated at the nearby Arctowski Polish Antarctic station and later transferred to the Chilean Eduardo Frei military base. His injuries were described as light.
Military personnel were trying to bring the fire under control, a navy statement said.
Some 30 researchers, one alpinist and a representative of the environment ministry who were at the Brazilian base at the time of the accident were evacuated by helicopter to the Chilean Eduardo Frei base and were to be flown by the Argentine Air Force to the southern Chilean city of Punta Arenas, the Brazilian Navy said.
According to the Chilean Air Force, a total of 42 Brazilians and two Spaniards were evacuated to Punta Arenas.
It added 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, and 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.
Amorim was also in touch with two of his cabinet colleagues over the accident, Science and Technology Minister Marco Antonio Raupp and Environment Minister Izabella Teixeira.
The Comandante Ferraz base, which was established in 1984, conducts biological science research, focused on coastal and shelf marine ecosystems.
Around 30 countries, all signatories to the Antarctic Treaty, operate seasonal and year-round research stations on Antarctica, which is almost totally covered by a vast ice sheet.
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 that continent.