By RNZ

Two people are dead after falling while climbing Aoraki Mt Cook.

Police said four people were attempting to summit the mountain just before midnight on Monday, when two of them fell near the summit.

The two surviving climbers called for help and were picked up by search and rescue.

The two other climbers were unable to be located overnight on Monday, but their bodies were spotted on Tuesday morning.

Canterbury Aoraki Area Commander Inspector Vicki Walker said two helicopters had flown to the mountain to carry out the search.

One from Queenstown flew to Wānaka and picked up the Wānaka Alpine Cliff Rescue Team, and a helicopter from Dunedin flew straight to the mountain and began searching.

The helicopter from Dunedin found two climbers from the group, and took them off the mountain about 2.15am.

"The two helicopters completed extensive searches throughout the night for the remaining two climbers as conditions on the mountain were calm and clear, but were unsuccessful," Walker said.

Their bodies were located about 7am on Tuesday.

An operation was under way to recover the bodies in a challenging alpine environment, Walker said.

Police were working to contact next of kin, and until that process has been completed, details of the climbers would not be released, she said.

The two climbers who were flown out on Monday night were uninjured and were being supported.

Main image credit: Rob Lewis