Lake Wakatipu kayaking victims named

Raphaël Soubrier, left, and Yoann Firdion, died after getting into trouble in their kayak on Lake Wakatipu. Photo / Supplied from Facebook

The names of two French kayakers who died in Lake Wakatipu yesterday have been released.

They were 21-year-old Raphaël Serge Soubrier and 24-year-old Yoann Lucien Georges Firdion.

Mr Soubrier was a shop assistant and Mr Firdion was a student at the New Zealand Language School.

Both were on a one-year working holiday in Queenstown.

According to their Facebook pages, Mr Soubrier was from the French town of Chartres, south of Paris, and Mr Firdion was from Neuilly-sur-Seine in west Paris.

- NZ Herald staff