Wellington - Two tourists were killed Thursday when an ice shelf collapsed on them at the Fox Glacier in New Zealand's Southern Alps, the TV3 channel reported.

The body of one victim was recovered but the second was trapped under 30 tons of ice and rescuers would not be able to get to it until Friday morning, the report said.

Early reports of the accident were confusing, with some saying that four people were involved in the ice collapse which was believed to have occurred outside safe areas on the 14-kilometre long glacier roped off by the Department of Conservation (DOC).

DOC area manager Jo Macpherson told TV3, "The terminal face of the Fox Glacier is very steep at present and subject to random ice collapses."

She said the Glacier Valley, on the west coast of the South Island, which is one of New Zealand's biggest tourist attractions, was a safe place for visitors, as long as they took notice of warning signs and did not go beyond barrier ropes.

The department said in 2007 that almost a third of the 600,000 visitors to the glaciers on the west coast of the South Island ignored warning sings and entered danger zones. (dpa)