MOSCOW, October 9 (RIA Novosti) - A two-story building, part of Russia's Progress station in Antarctica, caught fire killing one construction worker and seriously injuring two others, the expedition's head said on Thursday.

Valery Lukin said the fire broke out on Sunday on the station, where 29 people are based, completely destroying the radio equipment, which made it impossible to contact Russian officials about the incident until Thursday.

"All the radio equipment was destroyed. One of the station's construction workers... died, and two others received serious fractures and injuries," Lukin said.

The injured have been taken to a nearby clinic and are receiving the necessary medical treatment. "There is no need for an evacuation due to medical concerns," Russia's Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute said in a statement.

The earliest date that an evacuation could be carried out is early November.

An investigation into the fire is being carried out.

The Progress research station was opened in 1989 and is located in the Larsemann Hills in East Antarctica. The station is around 1.5 kilometers from China's Zhong Shan research station, where the injured Russians are receiving medical treatment.