Ice collapse witnesses speak to police

Parents revisit scene

The Press, DOC, Facebook

SCENE SHOTS: Akshay Miranda, 22, and his 24-year-old brother Ashish, and the spot at the Fox Glacier where they died after the ice shelf collapsed. Bottom left shows file pictures of tourist watching ice crash into the Fox River and, bottom, tourists looking at the river after advancing past warning signs.

DOC/Supplied

ICE FALL: At least four tourists are believed to be trapped behind fallen ice at Fox Glacier.

Supplied

AFTERMATH: Blocks of ice the size of large vehicles were among the debris that fell when the face of Fox Glacier collapsed burying toruists Ashish Miranda and Akshay Miranda.

BROTHERS: Ashish Miranda, 24, and Akshay Miranda, 22, of Melbourne, at World Youth Day in Sydney last year.

FOX GLACIER

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The parents of the two Melbourne men crushed at Fox Glacier yesterday witnessed the ice collapsing but did not know their only sons were underneath it.

Brothers Ashish Miranda, 24, and Akshay Miranda, 22, of Melbourne, crossed safety barriers at the terminal face to take photos around 4.20pm yesterday when a section of ice collapsed.

Their parents, Ronnie and Winnie Miranda, who they were on holiday with, were at the scene at the time. The brothers were reportedly standing directly under the ice shelf when it collapsed.

The body of Ashish Miranda, an aerospace engineer for Boeing, was recovered last night while the body of his brother Askhay - presumed dead - is thought to be right at the bottom of the ice shelf, an area believed to be extremely dangerous.

Constable Tony LeSueur, of Hokitika police, said the Miranda family had visited the site of the tragedy and were extremely distraught. They would remain in the area until Sunday - assisted by the Australian High Commission - before returning to Australia.

Police have postponed the recovery of Askhay Miranda's body due to safety fears.

"At this time, heavy rain is falling in Fox Glacier and this may have a significant impact on the dynamics of the glacier," Mr LeSueur said.

"The results of this rainfall can not be predicted and at this time the police can not say when or if another active search will take place. These options will be continually reassessed as conditions change."

More than 100 tonnes of ice was believed to have fallen on the men. Some of the ice blocks in the rubble were the size of large vehicles.

Constable Paul Gurney, of Franz Josef police station, said several other tourists had witnessed the brothers being crushed and they had been interviewed by police to help them get a clearer picture of what had happened.

They had taken before and after shots but had no footage of the ice collapsing.

Conservation Department staff are monitoring the site, and will do until at least Monday.

TRAGEDY ON FAMILY HOLIDAY

The two men were the only children of their parents, who they lived with in Melbourne.

The brothers attended World Youth Day in Sydney in last year, with the younger brother Akshay describing it as "the most kick ass week ever'' on his Facebook profile.

The profile also revealed Akshay as a football fan who proudly celebrated his Indian heritage.

He was an engineering student at Monash University, due to finish his studies this year.

Ashish, an aerospace engineer for Boeing, had studied at RMIT where he was part of a team that won an international award for helicopter design.

According to Indian website Daijiworld Media Network, the family had migrated to Melbourne from the Indian city Mangalore.

The boys' parents, Ronnie and Winnie Miranda, were original from Mumbai, it said.

Tributes to Ashish were already being posted on his Facebook page.

"Rest in peace, Akshay,'' wrote Elise Aycardo. "You'll be forever missed, forever loved, and always, forever, in our hearts. I'm sorry ... And my thoughts and prayers are with your family.''

John Oddo wrote: "You were such a great man and such a valuable friend. I will really really miss you and I know you're making fun of me right now from up there but I love you and thanks for putting up with me.''

An aunt of the brothers told Daijiworld the family was still praying Akshay, whose body has not been recovered, would be found alive.

On Sunday, Akshay proudly boasted on Facebook that he had completed a 134-metre bungee jump.

GLACIER RISKS

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.

- With Michael Fox, NZPA, Arjun Ramachandran

- © Fairfax NZ News