Burmese men's survival tale doubt

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/7843039.stm

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Australian officials are questioning two Burmese fishermen to verify if they did indeed spend 25 days at sea in a large ice box after their boat sank.

The men were rescued off the coast of northern Australia at the weekend.

They said they had been drifting in the ice box through shark-infested waters drinking only rain water and eating fish vomited by passing birds.

However, an expert has questioned the story, saying the men did not display the symptoms of prolonged exposure.

The men, in their 20s, were picked up by helicopter after being spotted floating in the giant ice box in the Torres Strait.

They would be debilitated from lack of food or inadequate food and barely adequate water, and very badly burnt and blistered Dr Paul Luckin, maritime survival expert

They were treated for dehydration at an Australian hospital and released on Tuesday.

They told Australian officials that their 10-metre wooden fishing boat had sunk on 23 December with the likely loss of 18 Thai and Burmese crew.

But Brisbane doctor Paul Luckin, who is a maritime survival expert, told Australian ABC News that the men would be very ill if their story was true.

"I would expect them to be in very poor physical condition," he said.

"They would be debilitated from lack of food or inadequate food and barely adequate water, and very badly burnt and blistered by the sun and the wind."

Australian Immigration Department spokesman Sandi Logan said the pair would stay in immigration detention while officials interview them.

"I am aware of the doubts that have been expressed in the media about their claims, but I don't think there is any doubt that they were found floating at sea in an ice box," he said.