Brothers crushed by ice sheet in New Zealand

Two Australian brothers were crushed to death under a sheet of ice at a popular tourist spot in New Zealand, police said today.

Constable Tony LeSueur said the pair, who were on a family holiday, were struck and buried when a section of ice fell off the main face of South Island's Fox Glacier.

Mr LeSueur said the body of one of the men, 24-year-old Ashish Miranda, an aerospace engineer for Boeing in Australia, had been recovered.

But rescuers had not been able to reach his brother, Akshay Miranda, a 22-year-old student, despite the use of a mechanical digger, because some of the ice blocks under which he was buried were the size of large vehicles.

Mr LeSueur added that Akshay Miranda is presumed dead.