Two Melbourne exchange students killed in NZ kayaking accident

Two students on exchange at Melbourne’s Monash University have died after a kayaking accident on New Zealand’s Lake Tekapo yesterday afternoon.

Daniel Holnnsteiner, a 21-year-old from New York, and James Murphy, a 20-year-old from London, were kayaking with their university friends when the group got into difficulty and fell into the freezing waters, police reported.

The young men were part of a group of 11 students from Monash University who had hired kayaks while on holiday.

After the alarm was raised, rescue crews, volunteer firemen and the local coast guard, aided by a helicopter, rescued the nine surviving students and retrieved two bodies from the lake.

Three other members of the group were admitted to Timaru Hospital with hypothermia last night and will be released this afternoon.

The group experienced problems when an easterly wind picked up to about 20 knots on the lake, police said.

Investigations into the incident are ongoing and the matter will be referred to the Coroner.