Police release names of drowned tourists

Police have released the names of two tourists who drowned when they were swept down a river at Franz Josef on Friday night.

They were Poi Moy Tan, a 31-year-old woman from Singapore and Yu-Ling Chen, a 28-year-old woman from Taiwan.

West Coast search and rescue co-ordinator sergeant Sean Judd said four tourists - one man and three women - went for a walk near Franz Josef Glacier about 9.30pm.

The group decided to cross the glacier-fed Waiho River between the glacier and State Highway 6 when it started to get dark to save time getting back to their vehicle, Mr Judd said.

The man and one woman cross successfully before seeing the other two women knocked off their feet and swept away.

The remaining two raised the alarm and a search was launched about 11pm, with the Solid Energy Rescue Helicopter spotting the bodies soon after.

Helicopter pilot Angus Taylor said the first woman's body was spotted after 45 minutes of searching, about 1km upstream from the State Highway 6 bridge in Franz Josef and several kilometres from where the group had tried to cross the river. The second body was found another kilometre downstream.