Divers Safe After 21 Hours Lost at Sea in Sri Lanka

A British instructor and four other divers survived a 21-hour ordeal in the sea after losing their boat as they surfaced from a Boxing Day dive off the western coast of Sri Lanka.

Police and military personnel launched an air and sea search after the five, from Britain, Germany and the Netherlands, failed to return from a Thursday morning dive near Negombo, a resort north of the capital, Colombo.

Bobby Astor, who is in his 30s, and his Dutch girlfriend Madeleine, both trained instructors, had been working in the resort for only two months before the incident. They were employed by Aquatic Adventures. They tied the group together so that no one could be separated, but navy vessels and aircraft failed to spot them as they tried to flag down passing boats.

The divers were eventually rescued by fishermen who brought them into Negombo's harbour at around noon yesterday. They had been swept southwards down the coast towards Colombo, and were weak but otherwise unharmed.

"The only thing on my mind was to see my wife and children again," said Tom Bezoen, 48, from the Netherlands, who was diving with the group while on a holiday with his family. "That was the only thing that kept me going. It was quite an experience."

His wife and stepson alerted the authorities when he did not return from the trip, although it is thought the boatman also raised the alarm when the divers apparently failed to surface.

The group said they emerged in good time but could not see the boat, and last night it was unclear what had gone wrong. The two instructors and their pupils are all experienced divers and diving accidents are rare on the island, despite strong currents and riptides around the coast.

Mr Astor and his girlfriend helped the others to remove their air tanks, drop their lead weights and use their weight belts to tie themselves together. They used their buoyancy jackets to keep afloat, but soon became exhausted as they paddled to stop themselves drifting further out into the Indian ocean.

"It was amazing. We had been out there 21 hours when the fishermen spotted us," Mr Bezoen said yesterday as he recuperated at his hotel with his wife and children.

"You have a few moments when you think, 'Oh God, what has happened?' But we didn't give up hope because we were seeing vessels all the time and we thought one would have to see us and help. They were looking in the wrong place because they thought we were far away from the coast."

He added: "It was the second dive of the day and the boat was following us. Something went wrong - I don't know what - and when we came up we couldn't see it.

"I have made 65 dives and had taken five or six with these guys already [on this holiday]. They are good divers, very experienced. We were all quite experienced divers."

The other members of the group, a 35-year-old German man and a Dutch woman, were also recovering at their hotels yesterday.

A spokesman for Aquatic Adventures said: "Bobby and Madeleine were in charge of the group and managed to save them. They are highly qualified and handled the situation very well."