How searchers stumbled on missing Tasmanian

MISSING Hobart man Andrew Gaskell was found by pure chance and is lucky to be alive, says a Malaysian police chief.

Andrew Gaskell talks to his father to tell him that he is alive, after being found in the Malaysian jungle. Picture: SARAWAK FIRE AND RESCUE

MISSING Hobart man Andrew Gaskell was found by pure chance and is lucky to be alive, says a Malaysian police chief.

More details are emerging about how lucky Mr Gaskell was to be found alive in the Malaysian jungle this week.

Mr Gaskell was discovered deep within Mulu National Park in Malaysian Borneo after going missing a fortnight ago.

But it was a chance encounter that saved his life, Marudi police’s Deputy Chief Superintendent Gabriel Risut told the Mercury yesterday.

A rescue team was scouring the park when it decided to stop for lunch just after 1pm on Monday. One of the team went to get water from a stream about 20 metres off the track and stumbled across the emaciated Australian.

“Our personnel asked him ‘are you Andrew Gaskell’ and he said ‘yes’. We said ‘oh, we have been searching for you everywhere in the Mulu National Park’,” Mr Risut said.

“It was very lucky … we were so glad to find him.”

A pallid-looking Mr Gaskell was found near Sarawak Chamber, the largest cave of its type in the world, about a six- hour walk from the world heritage listed park’s entrance.

The search team fed coffee and biscuits to Mr Gaskell, who was wearing a grey T-shirt and shorts.

He was then winched up to a helicopter and flown to hospital.

The search team focused on that area after picking up the scent of a decomposing carcass. They found a rotting mouse deer but stayed in the area before finding Mr Gaskell.

The Australian became lost after descending from the 2376m Mulu Mountain on his way to Camp One.

Mr Risut said there were many old tracks in the area, a legacy of the hunting habits of the people who used to live in the area.

Mr Gaskell, an engineer who was living in Cairns before his trip in August, is recovering in Miri Hospital.

Writing on Facebook, Mr Gaskell apologised for the trouble his disappearance had caused and said the rescuers were the “real heroes”.

Originally published as How searchers stumbled on missing Tasmanian