I believe virtually every item I ever used alklines in has had a leak.
I find that plain running water and toothbrush dissolves the alkali crust fine, but the problem is the corrosion left behind. Any metal plating is gone, along with pitting. I will use a little sandpaper on the metal and apply Deoxit, but it'll never look the same again. You just hope there isn't deep damage.
Once I had a leak in an AAA Fenix, and I left the tube with stuck battery in a tub of water. The next day, the alkali had removed a good portion of the color anodize.
Not sure if I've posted this, but here's an EagTac Ti D25A from a friend in 2021;