Scientists at the base of the Sanae IV rocked the alleged assault

A group of scientists who suffer from work together for several months was threatened at a remote research station in Antarctica after a team member was accused of assaulting.

About 10 researchers usually remain at the South African -run base, which is located about 170 km (about 105 miles) from the edge of the ice shelf and is difficult to reach.

But a South African government spokesman told BBC, “There was an attack” at the station, following previous allegations of inappropriate behavior from inside the camp.

In another message that the BBC saw, the South African Ministry of Environment had been responding to fears “with the utmost urgent need.”

The Sunday Times in South Africa, which was the first to inform the story, said the team members had defended their rescue.

The ministry also said that those in the team were subject to “a number of assessments that include examination of the background, reference checks, and medical evaluation, as well as the psychotropic evaluation by qualified professionals”, which all members wiped.

In a statement, the ministry said: “Only the candidates who do not have any negative results from all background assessments will be considered on a date.”

The administration added that it is uncommon “that individuals have an initial amendment when they reach very remote areas, even if the assessments do not appear any areas of interest.

He said that when the ship left for Antarctica on February 1, “everything was in a state,” and the accident was first informed to the ministry on February 27.

The statement said that the administration “immediately activated the response plan to mediate and restore relations at Al Qaeda.”

She added: “This process continued on a daily basis in order to ensure that those in the base know that the administration is supportive and ready to do everything required to restore personal relationships, but also in dealing with discipline cases.”

The ministry said that the Minister of Government was dealing personally from the incident, and the alleged perpetrator showed “to participate in a good mind in further psychological evaluation, and he showed remorse, which is a cooperative about Tayeb Khater to follow up on any recommended interventions.”

She said the alleged perpetrator also wrote an official apology to the victim.

The Sanae IV research base is more than 4000 km from the mainland of South Africa, and harsh weather conditions mean that scientists can be cut there throughout the year.

The current team was expected to be at the Sanae IV base until December.

Research missions have been conducted in South Africa since 1959. The team is usually composed to the Sanae IV base from a doctor, mechanics, three engineers, meteorologists and two physicists.

These campaigns, with harsh weather conditions that impose a lot of time you spend in a confined internal space, are usually run without an accident, and team members must undergo a set of psychological assessments before traveling.

But on Sunday, the Sunday Times stated in South Africa that a team member had sent an email to warn of “very disturbing behavior” by a colleague and “an environment of fear”.

A South African government spokesman told the BBC that the alleged attack had led to “a conflict over the task that the team leader wanted to carry out the weather -dependent task that requires changing the table.”

Accidents on the Antarctica are rare, but they are not unprecedented. In 2018, there were reports of stabbing at the Russian Bellingshausen research station.

Psychologists refer to the effect of isolation on human behavior.

“One of the things we know from these rare events, when something bad happens in forced isolation or work, is that it is often small things, and the small things that can explode in the conflict,” said Craig Jackson, professor of health psychology at the workplace at the University of Birmingham City, and a legal member of the British Psychological Association.

“So, problems related to hierarchy, allocating the work burden, and even small things around free time, shares, or food parts can swing quickly to become much larger than they are,” he told the BBC.

Gabriel Walker, the scientist and author who was on campaigns on the Antarctica, said that work is close to a small group of colleagues.

“You know exactly how to put a cup of coffee down and the direction that the handle refers to; you know that they scratch their nose three times before sitting; you know everything about it.

“In bad circumstances, you can start irritating you … because there is nothing else – there is no other incentive and you are with people 24/7,” she said.

The sources within the research community in Antarctica BBC have told South Africa to have access to a ship and a capable of ice if necessary.

But any rescue process must deal with the harsh climate, with much lower temperatures of freezing and the possibility of strong winds.