Two dead after blast destroys Brazil8217;s Antarctic base

8220;In an act of heroism,they were precisely in the area of major risk in a bid to extinguish a fire and they did not succeed,8221; Amorim said.

Navy sergeant Luciano Gomes Medeiros was also lightly injured in the blast,which occurred late yesterday after a fire in a room housing energy generators of the Comandante Ferraz research base located in Admiralty Bay,King George Island,near the tip of the Antarctic Peninsula.

He was first treated at a nearby Arctowski Polish Antarctic station and later transferred to the Chilean Eduard Frei military base.

The Chilean Defense Ministry meanwhile confirmed that a joint Chilean-Brazilian team found the bodies of the two Brazilian personnel who had been reported missing after the fire.

8220;The bodies were found near the stricken base8221; and will be transferred to the Eduardo Frei base,it added.

Chilean Defence Minister Andres Allamand told CNN television that the Brazilian base 8220;was completely destroyed8221; by the explosion.

The blast also forced dozens of researchers to evacuate.