The manager of a Queenstown white water rafting company has defended his firm's actions after an Australian man died during a rafting trip on Saturday.
The tourist was one of six Australians on the raft, which overturned on rapids at Skippers Canyon, on the Shotover Rapids, near Queenstown.
He lost his grip as the raft was being towed to a bank, was swept through another rapid and could not be resuscitated on the shore, Tim Barker, the general manager of Totally Tourism, which owns Challenge Rafting said.
"We believe everything was done by the book and standard procedure. But the outcome was certainly something we did not expect," he told Radio NZ this morning.
Rafts overturning was not unusual for the grade of the river, he added, and customers are given equipment to ensure their safety and warmth.
Police are yet to release a name or age for the man, ahead of a post-mortem examination today.
Police released the victim's name this afternoon, he was 31-year-old Joshua Paroci of New South Wales, Australia.
Maritime New Zealand is investigating.
The death comes two months after a guide died in the same part of the river during a medical event.
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