WELLINGTON - TWO Australian brothers were killed when around 100 tonnes of ice fell on them at the base of Fox Glacier in New Zealand's South Island, police said on Friday.

The body of Ashish Miranda, a 24-year-old aerospace engineer, was recovered hours after the late afternoon accident on Thursday.

But the search for his brother Akshay Miranda, a 22-year-old student, was delayed because of dangerous conditions at the base of the glacier.

The brothers had ignored warning signs and a rope safety barrier late on Thursday afternoon to take photos next to the glacier, a popular tourist attraction at the base of the Southern Alps.

The two men were the only children of their parents, who were travelling with them in New Zealand, police said. The family lived in Melbourne after reportedly migrating from India.

Ice and rock falls are common at the base of the glaciers, which end in steep cliffs of ice.

Department of Conservation area manager Jo Macpherson said the second body was believed to be trapped at the base of the glacier.

'It's very dangerous still. There is no way the police will put anybody on the ground under the ice shelf the way it's looking at the moment,' she said.

Conservation Minister Tim Groser said the parents of the brothers faced a 'tragedy of almost unimaginable proportions to lose both sons'.

Mr Groser, who was at Fox Glacier, said there was a responsibility on visitors to follow safety warnings.

In 2007, the Department of Conservation estimated almost a third of the 600,000 annual visitors to the West Coast glaciers ignored warning signs and entered dangerous areas at the base of the giant ice structures.

In February 2007, a tourist standing beside an ice cave at the base of the Franz Josef Glacier was injured when the cave roof collapsed. -- AFP