Twelve Russian scientists stranded on a sinking research station near the North Pole are hoping to be airlifted to safety during the next 48 hours.
The ice floe bearing the North Pole-32 meteorological research station drifted further south than expected and began to break up, a State Meteorological Service official said.
A section of the floe disappeared beneath the surface, taking four of the station's six buildings with it, she said.
An helicopter is preparing to fly to the ice floe, in the Arctic Ocean 460 miles northwest of the Norwegian island of Spitsbergen, and is expected to evacuate the researchers today or tomorrow, the spokeswoman said.
She said that the lives of the researchers were not in danger and that they had enough supplies to last about five days.
