Family drifts four days in Beaufort Sea before being rescued

A family from Tuktoyaktuk who spent four days adrift in a boat in the Western Arctic has been found safe.

Coast Guard ships and several Canadian Forces aircraft began searching when the group was reported missing on Friday.

The man, 75, woman, 56, and two young adults with two dogs were in a five-metre boat and were believed to be hunting somewhere in the vicinity of McKinley Bay.

A Canadian Forces Hercules spotted the family late Friday night about 140 kilometres northwest of Tuktoyaktuk.

The man, woman and two young adults were all OK.

The family said the boat had lost engine power early in the week and they had been drifting since then.

The Canadian Coast Guard Ship Eckaloo picked them up and brought them home to Tuktoyaktuk.