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Fox Glacier body located

Thursday 15 January 2009, 5:45PM

By New Zealand Police

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FOX GLACIER

On Thursday the 8th January 2009 two Australian tourists, Ashish and Akshay MIRANDA were crushed by falling ice at the terminal face of Fox Glacier.

Ashish MIRANDA was located a short time later.

Akshay was not located in the initial search. In the days following the incident Department of Conservation (DoC) staff have been monitoring the glacier. This has included taking regular photographs of the scene. These photographs were assessed by both Police and DoC staff on a daily basis.

During the last week there has been a significant change in the river flow. The location of the river exiting the glacier has moved about 200 metres downstream from its original position. This has meant a larger volume of water has been washing through the icefall. A large portion of the ice has subsequently been washed away. The Fox River has also been steadily dropping over the last few days, exposing more rock and ice.

On Thursday the 15th January 2009 it became clear that there was a possibility that Akshay had been released from the ice due to these variations. This was confirmed a short time later when DoC staff carrying out the monitoring located a red cap on the riverbed about 500mts from the glacier. This was believed to have belonged to Akshay.

An aerial search of the Fox River was conducted and as a result Akshay was located at 12.30pm approximately 10 kilometres downstream from the glacier, just below the confluence with the Cook River. This area of the river is braided with a number of islands in the riverbed.

Akshay was located out of the water on a gravel island approximately 1 metre from the waters edge. He was lying on his back with his arms by his side. The extend of his injuries can not be established at this time. Akshay did not have any personal items on him.

Akshay will now be transported to Christchurch for a post-mortem before being released to his family.
Mr and Mrs MIRANDA have been advised that their son has been located, they were understandably relieved. It is likely that the funeral which was planned in the near future for Ashish will be delayed until Akshay can be reunited with his family.

Mr and Mrs MIRANDA are being assisted by New Zealand Victim Support to have Akshay repatriated to Australia. They have expressed their gratitude for all the assistance they have received.