Searchers will today try and find the body of one of two Australian brothers crushed by falling ice on Fox Glacier yesterday.
The body of one man was recovered, but the search for the second man, also believed to be dead, had to be abandoned last night due to dangerous conditions.
The men, in their early 20s, were crushed by ice after crossing safety barriers at the terminal face to take photos around 4.20pm.
The search was suspended about 8pm and will resume when the safety of the ice structure is confirmed, Constable Tony LeSueur, of Hokitika, said.
"Their (the boys) parents are on holiday with them, they're in Fox Glacier at the moment and they've been informed. Sadly this is their only two sons that died," Mr LeSueur told Radio New Zealand.
The family was due to fly back to Australia on Sunday morning.
Mr LeSueur said local guides were quick on the scene yesterday but were powerless to help.
A digger helped search for the bodies as long as it was safe, but managed to find only one.
People visiting areas like the Fox and Franz Josef Glaciers needed to respect safety barriers and notices, he said.
More than 100 tonnes of ice was believed to have fallen on the men, some pieces of ice being the size of large vehicles.
Conservation Minister Tim Groser said it was a "tragedy of almost unimaginable proportions (for the parents) to lose both sons in one tragedy".
Mr Groser was at Fox Glacier but was staying out of the way of the operational staff conducting the search.
"There are extensive safety procedures in place, these are reviewed annually, there's also been independent assessment of these procedures.
"We're dealing with a situation that is a highly dangerous and dynamic natural environment involving rock, ice and rivers."
The procedures were last reviewed in August last year.
He said the facts of the latest incident would be reviewed by the Department of Conservation (DOC), police and probably the coroner.
There will always be risk, but also "some responsibility on the part of these individuals who go into these areas".
In 2007, DOC said almost a third of the 600,000 visitors to the West Coast glaciers ignored warning signs and entered danger zones.
In February that year, a tourist standing beside an ice cave at the terminal face of the Franz Josef Glacier was injured when the roof collapsed.
He had walked past signs warning of the danger of falling ice.
