Russian Scientists Rescued From Crumbling Arctic Ice Floe

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MOSCOW - "Twelve Russian researchers were plucked from an Arctic ice floe Saturday, three days after a chunk of the floe disappeared beneath the sea and took most of their meteorological station with it.

Two Russian helicopters left the Norwegian island of Spitsbergen, some 450 miles southeast of the floe, early Saturday and returned about 10 hours later with the researchers, their remaining equipment and two dogs.

A large piece of the floe broke off Wednesday, and four of the North Pole-32 research station's six buildings were lost. The researchers, who had been recording weather conditions and studying climate change, were unhurt and had enough supplies to survive for several days.

Deputy Parliament speaker Artur Chilingarov, a renowned polar explorer who took part in the rescue, said he expected the men to make a festive return Monday for International Women's Day, a major holiday in Russia."

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