Three Burmese fishermen, rescued by Indian fishermen after being adrift in the sea on a bamboo raft for over three months, said they look forward to help from the Burmese Embassy.

Zaw Oo, one of the fishermen during an interview with Mizzima, said while they are getting help and protection from the Gopalpur police station in the East coast of India's Orissa state, they are looking to the Burmese Embassy in New Delhi for assistance in returning to Burma.

The three Burmese fishermen, who identified themselves as Zaw Oo, Zaw Lwin and Ko Linn are residents of Burma's coastal village of Phya Pone in Irrawaddy Division. They said they were rescued by Indian fishermen and brought to Gopalpur police station in Orissa on Wednesday.

Zaw Oo said they embarked on a fishing trip on a bamboo raft on November 11, 2007. They were caught in a heavy cyclone and started drifting in the Bay of Bengal.

"We were adrift on the sea for three months. We mainly depended on dry fish and turtles for food but we remained without food for nearly two months after all our dry fish stocks ran out," Zaw Oo said.

While miraculously surviving the storm and months in the sea without proper food and water, Zaw Oo said they suffered severe stomach problems because they were forced to drink sea water in the absence of fresh water.

"For nearly two months we drank sea water and we suffered severe stomach problems. But later we learnt how to boil the water," Zaw Oo added.

He added that the Indian police as well as local residents have been very kind to them and had provided food and shelter.

"An Indian man told us that he would take our case to the Burmese Embassy so that we can be sent back home immediately," said Zaw Oo adding that "We are already lucky to be alive. It is like returning to life from death."

While the police officer in-charge in Gopalpur was unavailable for comment, due to an on-duty trip, Purna Chandra Sethy, a local Indian said he will help the trio in submitting their case to the Burmese Embassy in New Delhi.

Sethy, however, said the case is unlikely to be processed as quickly as the fishermen might want and is likely to take at least half a year before they can return to Burma given the bureaucratic red tape.

"Meanwhile, I have planned to take the three of them to my house until they can return. Today I was about to take them but since the [police] officer in-charge is not available I could not take them," Sethy said.

Sethy added that the three fishermen's case, though unusual, is not the first. He said, in 1993, nine Burmese fishermen were washed ashore in the eastern coast of India.

"I kept them in my house for one whole year until their case could be processed by the [Burmese] Embassy. Finally I personally took them to New Delhi and discussed their matter with the secretary of the embassy," Sethy said.

The nine fishermen were finally deported to Burma by air from Kolkata in 1994, he added.

The Burmese Embassy in New Delhi, however, could not be contacted for comment on the case of the three Burmese fishermen.