WELLINGTON, New Zealand -- New Zealand police said Monday they have found and recovered a second body from a field of avalanche debris during a search for two missing Canadian hikers.
Search and rescue teams said they found the second body near where they had found the first a day earlier, about 350 metres (1,150 feet) below a track the two 23-year-old Montreal students had intended to hike.
Police spokesman Nicholas Barkley said they have yet to formally identify the bodies. He said authorities have told the families about the latest developments.
The men are Louis-Vincent Lessard and Etienne Lemieux.
According to police, the hikers travelled on July 7 to the South Island town of Te Anau intending to hike the Kepler Track, a route which typically takes three or four days, and were reported missing by their families on July 25.
New Zealand officials caution hikers to take extra care on the track from May to October due to wintery conditions.
