Attack in Antarctica Results in Attempted Murder Charge

Researcher Sergey Savitsky is on house arrest
By Luke Roney,  Newser Staff
Posted Oct 24, 2018 4:58 PM CDT
Researcher at Antarctic Outpost Allegedly Stabs Colleague
Pine Island Glacier, Antarctica.   (Ian Joughin/University of Washington via AP)

A researcher at Russia's remote Bellingshausen station allegedly stabbed a colleague earlier this month, the Guardian reports, citing the Russian-language Interfax news agency. Investigators say that the researcher, identified as Sergey Savitsky, wielded a knife on Oct. 9 and "deliberately struck [his colleague] at least one blow to the body" in the station's dining room. The injured man has been hospitalized in Chile, while Savitsky is on house arrest facing an attempted murder charge, per Business Insider Nordic.

Bellingshausen station is located in the Antarctic on King George Island, some 500 miles from Argentina, according to Newsweek. A source tells Interfax that Savitsky may have snapped after living in such close quarters for such a long time (reportedly more than six months), per Business Insider. Some 30 countries have research teams in Antarctica, per Newsweek, which notes that investigating crimes there can be tricky since, based on a 1961 treaty, no country has a claim on the continent. (NASA captured an image of an unusual iceberg.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X