RESCUERS searching for five British and Hong Kong soldiers, missing down a deep gully on Malaysia's Mount Kinabalu for more than three weeks, have found an abandoned camp, suggesting the soldiers may still be alive.
The discovery came as a survivor of the expedition which left the five missing, catalogued a series of errors which hit the team from the beginning.
Rescuers found a waterproof bag with the name ''Neill'' - the expedition's leader - written on it and two tins of sardines belonging to the Hong Kong soldiers.
Last night a four-man British army rescue team was camping in the area of the abandoned camp. Six others were at the top of the abseil slope, four were near the peak, two were acting as a ferry party and five were at base camp at 3,600 metres.
As the discovery was made, Corporal Hugh Brittan, 24, was telling how some members of the 10-man team which started the ascent could not carry their 40-kilogram packs along the tourist path to the top of Mount Kinabalu before the descent into Low's Gully. Instead, they had to carry them in relays.
The three Hong Kong soldiers were discovered to have ditched food rations before the descent to ease their load and were ordered to replace them from stores at 3,600 metres.
