IQALUIT, Nunavut, June 26 (UPI) -- Twenty tourists stranded on a chunk of ice in the Canadian arctic were safely back on shore Wednesday, rescue officials said.
The rescuers told the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. the tourists, part of the adventure group Arctic Kingdom, managed to walk to shore after the ice shifted and moved back toward land.
There were no initial reports of any injuries.
Niore Iqalukjua, Artic Bay's search and rescue coordinator, said the tourists were in a cabin and would be picked up by a helicopter later in the day.
The group of tourists was camping near Admiralty Inlet in Canada's northernmost province, Nunavut, Tuesday when the 4-square-mile ice shelf they were on broke free and began drifting, CNN reported.
"Ice breaking off is a very common thing at this time of year," Canadian Air Force spokesman Steven Neta said.
A Royal Canadian Air Force plane circled the campers' location and made three drops of survival kits, including satellite phones, rations and rubber rafts in case the ice further crumbles, CNN said.
