Two Polar Bears Kill Worker at Remote Arctic Base in Rare Attack
TRAGEDY
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Two polar bears killed a worker at a remote radar station in the Canadian Arctic last week, authorities said, marking the second such attack since last year. The incident occurred Thursday at an outpost on Brevoort Island, part of Canada’s northern Nunavut territory, according to a statement by Nasittuq Corporation, the facility operator. After the unidentified employee was attacked, “Nasittuq employees responded to the scene and one of the animals was put down,” the company said, adding that officials are in close contact with “local authorities and regulatory agencies to conduct a thorough investigation” into the matter. The station on Brevoort Island is one of dozens in the Arctic that make up the North Warning System, a surveillance system monitoring for aircraft and cruise missiles within radar range. The worker’s death follows a Jan. 2023 polar bear attack on a woman and her infant son in a remote village in Wales, Alaska.