By Arjun Ramachandran and Larissa Ham
A family friend of two brothers caught beneath a massive ice fall on a New Zealand glacier says members of their tight-knit Catholic community are devastated by their deaths.
St Peter's Parish, in the south-eastern Melbourne suburb of East Bentleigh, today dedicated its 10am mass to Ashish and Akshay Miranda, who attended the church each Sunday with their parents.
Ashish, 24, is dead and his brother, Akshay, 22, is feared dead after they were caught under hundreds of tonnes of ice blocks at Fox Glacier in New Zealand's South Island. The boys reportedly ignored safety barriers.
Family friend Lorraine Lobo said the brothers were "a lovely, lovely set of boys".
"They were very close, both of them shared a car, both went partying together," Mrs Lobo said.
"As a friend I can say I'm glad both of them went together. They were really friends and not just brothers.
"Their parents would be shattered."
Mrs Lobo and her family knew the boys' parents, Ronnie and Winnie, when they all lived in Mumbai, and ended up living close-by in Melbourne.
Mrs Lobo said the boys, the Mirandas' only children, were high achievers, attending St James School in East Bentleigh before moving on to St Bede's College in Mentone from Year 11.
Ashish and Akshay had visited their house on several occasions to play chess with her young sons, who looked up to them as role models, Mrs Lobo said.
"My boys can't move through the day, they're totally shocked. The whole community at St Peter's is totally shocked," she said.
The brothers attended World Youth Day in Sydney in last year, with the younger brother Akshay describing it as "the most kick ass week ever" on his Facebook profile.
Akshay was a football fan who proudly celebrated his Indian heritage.
He was an engineering student at Monash University, due to finish his studies this year.
Ashish, an aerospace engineer for Boeing, had studied at RMIT where he was part of a team that won an international award for helicopter design.
A statement released by Boeing Australia said everyone in the team was "deeply saddened by the news".
"Ashish was a young and energetic member of our Advanced Composites Research team in our Melbourne Research Centre," the statement said.
"He had worked for Boeing for nearly two years and our thoughts and prayers are with his family."
According to Indian website Daijiworld Media Network, the family had migrated to Melbourne from the Indian city of Mangalore, with Mr and Mrs Miranda originally living in Mumbai, it said.
Tributes to Akshay were already being posted on his Facebook page.
"Rest in peace, Akshay," wrote Elise Aycardo. "You'll be forever missed, forever loved, and always, forever, in our hearts. I'm sorry ... And my thoughts and prayers are with your family."
John Oddo wrote: "You were such a great man and such a valuable friend. I will really really miss you and I know you're making fun of me right now from up there but I love you and thanks for putting up with me."
The 22-year-old has been described as a cheerful and happy person, who had fitted in to school quickly after moving to Australia in Year 8.
"Its (sic) only fitting that you went doin something cool, u were a guy who was always having fun...," wrote friend Jon.
An aunt of the brothers told Daijiworld the family was still praying Akshay, whose body has not been recovered, would be found alive.
On Sunday, Akshay proudly boasted on Facebook that he had completed a 134-metre bungee jump.