Antarctic base staff evacuated after Christmas brawl
Barbara McMahon in Sydney
Thursday December 27, 2007
Guardian Unlimited
Scientists at the Amundsen-Scott South Pole base
A file picture of scientists examining instruments at the Amundsen-Scott South Pole base. Photograph: Ernie Mastroianni/AP
Two men, one with a suspected broken jaw, have been airlifted from the Antarctic's most remote research facility after an incident described as a "drunken Christmas punch-up".
The brawl happened at the US-operated Amundsen-Scott South Pole station, located at the heart of the frozen continent. The station, where staff carry out a range of scientific investigations from astrophysics to seismology, is currently being rebuilt in a £76m project.
After reports of the fight reached staff at McMurdo station, the headquarters of the US Antarctic Programme, which is located on Ross Island, a US Air Force Hercules was sent to pick up the injured man and the other worker.
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