Mountain girl may still be alive, says rescue chief

Rescuers zeroed in today on an area where they believe they can find an ‘‘alive, but probably very weak’’ teenage English girl lost for six days on Southeast Asia’s tallest mountain.

About 70 rescuers are combing an area east of the mist-shrouded slopes of 13,455 foot Mount Kinabalu in Borneo and decided today to camp in the area for three days, making an all-out search for Ellie James, 17, of Cornwall.

Local police chief Zul Baharin Ismail said rescuers believed Ellie was still alive but lost in an area about four miles wide near the foot of the mountain.

Zul said rescuers had found footprints and other tracks left by the teenager over the weekend and Monday.

‘‘She had tied plastic bags to trees, and we also found her footprints,’’ Zul said. ‘‘We believe she also broke some branches to clear some place to sleep at night.’’

Zul said James’ family had told police that ‘‘she had experience in jungle survival and was a tough girl.’’

‘‘We think based on the tracks and information we have about her, she is still alive, but probably very weak,’’ Zul said. ‘‘We don’t know for sure if she knows how to live off wild plants.’’

Mountaineers have said that James would be able to forage for rain water left by intermittent tropical storms, but that food would be scarce beyond plant shoots. Temperatures were about 10 C (50 F) today.

Bad weather has hampered efforts to find the girl since she went missing last Wednesday in the mist-shrouded slopes Mount Kinabalu, called by the tribal Dusun people the ‘‘abode of the dead.’’

Additional rescuers from Kuala Lumpur today joined the search on Mount Kinabalu, on Malaysia’s northern corner of Borneo Island, to help comb the popular tourist destination.

About 50 soldiers, police, local guides and villagers broke off the search Monday afternoon because of rain that reduced visibility and made ascending the peak too dangerous.

Aircraft have been hampered by mist and tropical storms. Winds slowed from a weekend peak of 70 mph to 28 mph today, but Zul said that it remained difficult to use helicopters.

‘‘We are still discussing with our pilots,’’ he said.

The girl and her two brothers, their parents and a group of other British trekkers climbed the mountain last Wednesday and began their descent the following day.

On the way down, the children’s father, Bruce James, 54, and mother, Claire, 49, realised the girl and her brother Henry, 15, were missing and alerted park rangers.

According to the boy, who was found six hours later, his sister told him to stay at one place while she went to seek help.

In 1994, 18 British soldiers on a training exercise were lost but eventually rescued on the peak.