An accident at Antarctica’s McMurdo Station has claimed the lives of two technicians, the Guardian is reporting.
The National Science Foundation (NSF) reported this week that two fire-suppression technicians had been dispatched to the station, on Antarctica’s Ross Island, to install equipment at a generator building. A helicopter pilot noticed that smoke was coming from the floor of the building where the two technicians had been working, and landed his craft to inspect the situation. There he found the two employees unconscious.
Technicians attempted CPR on one of the victims, while the other was flown to a nearby medical clinic and pronounced dead shortly thereafter.
As of this writing, neither the NSF nor the technicians’ employer, Virginia-based subcontractor PAE, has revealed any information about the technicians’ identities. The NSF did say that their deaths are not being treated as suspicious. Meanwhile, a panel appointed by the NSF will investigate the deaths.