Two divers survive 20 hours drifting off Australia

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Two scuba divers, a British man and an American woman, were rescued on Saturday after drifting for 20 hours off Australia's Great Barrier Reef after they became separated from their dive party.

A rescue helicopter spotted the divers drifting about 7.8 nautical miles north-west of Bait Reef, winched them aboard and flew them to a nearby resort island, police said.

"I'm quite surprised, they are in such great condition," a helicopter rescue official told local radio.

"It was quite amazing, with over 20 hours in the ocean to not have more exposure, but I guess the wetsuits just kept them warm enough during the night. Possibly they had some fresh water on them and they didn't get too sunburnt during the afternoon."

The two, part of a party of six divers on a charter boat, became separated on Friday afternoon and drifted some eight nautical miles during the night.

Police said the pair were diving in a small inlet called Gary's Lagoon when they failed to resurface as scheduled.

The dive boat crew started a search, alerting police when they failed to find any trace of the missing divers.

Three aircraft, including a specialized search and rescue plane with forward looking infra-red equipment, searched overnight for the pair. The search was expanded on Saturday with seven helicopters and three aircraft looking for the pair.

(Reporting by Michael Perry; Editing by Lincoln Feast)