Seven burns victims rescued from a Korean fishing vessel are being flown from Antarctica to Christchurch for treatment.
The crew members were injured when the Jeong Woo 2 was engulfed by fire in the Southern Ocean on Wednesday
Three of the 40 crew aboard the 51m fishing vessel are believed to have perished when it caught fire in the Ross Sea, about 2000 nautical miles (3704km) southeast of New Zealand.
The survivors were yesterday rescued by two other Korean fishing vessels. Seven injured crew members were this morning taken to McMurdo Station in Antarctica by a United States research vessel equipped with medical facilities and staff.
A US air force C-130 Hercules left McMurdo Station at 12.35pm today with the seven injured crew on board.
The plane was expected to arrive in Christchurch about 8.45pm tonight.
The injured crew will be taken to Christchurch Hospital on arrival for assessment and further treatment as required.
Three of the crew were reported to be seriously injured, while the others had less serious burns.
The flight comes after fog at McMurdo Station delayed a US air force C-17 Globemaster departing from Christchurch to pick up the crew.
The other 30 crew were aboard the Jeong Woo 2's sister ship, the Jeong Woo 3, which will rendezvous with Korean icebreaker the Araon to collect the crew and take them back to Lyttelton.
The Araon, which was also involved in the rescue of the stranded Russian ship Sparta last month, was estimated to arrive on January 19.
The Sparta, which spent 12 days stranded by Antarctica after a collision with sea ice tore a hole in its hull, arrived in Nelson this week for repairs.
