Suspect placed under house arrest after alleged attack at Bellingshausen station on King George Island

This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

A researcher at Russia’s Antarctic station has allegedly stabbed and injured a colleague, possibly after an emotional breakdown, the Interfax news agency has reported.

The alleged attack occurred on 9 October in the canteen of Bellingshausen station on King George Island, the agency said on Tuesday. It said the suspect had voluntarily surrendered to the station manager without resistance.

The news agency separately reported in court proceedings that a man named Sergey Savitsky had been placed under house arrest until 8 December, charged with attempted murder at the station.

“According to the investigation, on October 9 in the dining room of the command of the Russian Antarctic station Bellingshausen, located on King George Island, to kill B using a knife as a weapon, Savitsky deliberately struck B at least one blow to the body,” it reported.

The agency quoted a source saying the pair had been living together in the station for more than six months.

The injured researcher has been sent to a hospital in Chile.

The Bellingshausen station was founded by the Soviet Union in 1968 and is named after the 19th-century Russian explorer of the Antarctic.

There has been no immediate comment from the Russian authorities.