OTTAWA (AFP) - Twenty tourists became stranded on an Arctic ice floe when the ice they were walking on broke away from land, but during the emergency response currents carried them back, rescuers said on Wednesday.

A helicopter will be sent to pick up the group from a small cabin in the area stocked with food and supplies, search and rescue coordinator Niore Iqalujuak told public broadcaster CBC.

There were no reports of injuries during the incident, which took place late on Tuesday.

The tourists were out with adventure tours operator Arctic Kingdom when they suddenly found themselves adrift in Admiralty Inlet near Arctic Bay in Canada's Nunavut territory.

A Canadian military aircraft dropped emergency supplies, including rafts and survival equipment.

Eleven local hunters had reportedly also been trapped on a nearby ice floe but also managed to walk ashore after their large sheet of ice floated back to land.