New Delhi – Three Myanmar fishermen who were adrift on a bamboo raft in the Bay of Bengal for more than three months were rescued last week by fishermen off India’s eastern coast, a news report said on February 6.

The fishermen were part of a group that had set out on November 11 on a fishing trip from Yangon, the IANS news agency reported. They were cast away after their boat was hit by Cyclone Sidr seven days later.

The report said the three were spotted by a group of fishermen in the coastal Ganjam district of India’s Orissa state and rescued last Tuesday evening.

Police in Ganjam, 170 kilometres south of state capital Bhubaneshwar, provided the rescued fishermen food, clothes and shelter. The men were also given a haircut.

The sailors said they were adrift in the sea for the past several months and were trying to find a way to return to their country. Cyclone Sidr, with winds of more than 240 kilometres an hour, had caused extensive damage in Bangladesh and claimed more than 3000 lives.

The sailors survived by eating raw fish and turtles, police officials said, adding that they planned to send them back to Myanmar soon. – Sapa-dpa