logo
Tiny pet dog credited with helping to save hiker trapped in Swiss glacier

Tiny pet dog credited with helping to save hiker trapped in Swiss glacier

The Guardian3 days ago
A small pet dog is being hailed as a 'four-legged hero' for helping to save his owner's life after he fell down an icy crevasse in the Swiss Alps.
The Air Zermatt helicopter company credited the pint-sized pooch with drawing their attention to the location of the hiker, who was extracted and taken to hospital.
The pair had taken a walk on the Fee glacier above Saas-Fee near the Italian border on Friday afternoon when the man 'suddenly broke through a snow bridge', Air Zermatt said, sending him plunging into the 8 metre-deep crevasse.
'While the man was stuck in the glacier ice, his faithful companion … was left at the edge of the crevasse,' the company said, recounting what it called an 'extraordinary' mission.
Air Zermatt described the dog as a chihuahua, though based on the pictures it released, the German newspaper Bild raised the possibility that the dog may in fact be a papillon, a type of spaniel.
The hiker was carrying an amateur walkie-talkie, which he used to call for help. A person nearby picked up but had difficulty pinpointing the man's location, at an elevation of about 3,200 metres.
Air Zermatt dispatched a crew with three rescue specialists in the direction of the Fee glacier, but the collapse site was hard to find given the breadth of the glacier's surface and the small size of the hole.
'Then a decisive moment: one of the rescue specialists spotted a small movement on a rock: the chihuahua!' the company said.
The shivering dog barked from a perch next to the hole through which its owner had fallen, allowing rescuers to abseil down and lift the man to safety while his pet looked on. Both he and the dog were then flown to a local hospital.
Sign up to Headlines Europe
A digest of the morning's main headlines from the Europe edition emailed direct to you every week day
after newsletter promotion
'The dog is a four-legged hero who may have saved his master's life in a life-threatening situation,' Air Zermatt said.
Teams from Air Zermatt had warned in March about the danger to hikers posed by crevasses, reporting seven rescue missions within two weeks.
St Bernards, weighing in at many times the size of a chihuahua or papillon, are the most common mountain rescue dogs in the Alps, famed for their valour in avalanches and other disasters. They are credited with saving about 2,000 travellers over the past two centuries on the St Bernard Pass on the border with Italy. However, because they tend to be slow and expensive to feed, many have been replaced over the years by helicopters and heat sensors.
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Dad and daughter volunteer with York Rescue Boat to save lives
Dad and daughter volunteer with York Rescue Boat to save lives

BBC News

time14 hours ago

  • BBC News

Dad and daughter volunteer with York Rescue Boat to save lives

Most of us don't know what it feels like to help save someone's life - but for 16-year-old Hannah it's a normal part of life as a youth volunteer with York Rescue Boat."I was around seven when I first started getting involved," she father, David, is an operational team manager for the charity, having joined the team in 2015, when it was father and daughter duo have been speaking as part of a recruitment campaign for new says that as well as helping to raise awareness of water safety, she "plays casualty" for rescue crews."I will be that missing person who may be in mental distress, who may be injured. I will be that person so the crew get an insight into the dos and don'ts," she says she "compartmentalises" to help her process the heavy topics, while she's at school."It's just having to put that away, but knowing if push came to shove, if there was an incident where somebody was possibly in distress, I have that knowledge and I can go and help that person." Her dad says the York Rescue Boat can "literally be the difference between life and death".The charity was set up in response to a number of deaths in the rivers of York, and aims to keep people safe through education, safety patrols and an on-call search and rescue crew. David says members of the team sometimes "need time to decompress" after a call-out, but "it's definitely worth it".The team dynamic helps volunteers to deal with it, Hannah adds."This crew is an awful lot like my family - a lot of them have seen me grow up from around the age of six, so being able to spend my days doing this fills me with pride," she lead Sally Waddington says: "We get as much out of it as we put in." She also volunteers as operational crew, alongside her day job in the pharmacy department at York Hospital. "It's not just the boat, there are so many aspects of the charity that people can get involved with," Sally says."You may be good at baking cakes that can help on our stalls," she adds, with roles also available in marketing and on operational foot patrol, working alongside the boat charity is planning a day of demonstrations at Queen's Staith in York on Saturday from 10:00 to 17:00 BST. Listen to highlights from North Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North.

Electric bike causes flat fire in Plymouth
Electric bike causes flat fire in Plymouth

BBC News

time19 hours ago

  • BBC News

Electric bike causes flat fire in Plymouth

A fire involving electric bike batteries prevented occupants from exiting a building safely, the fire service has and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service said it received reports of a flat fire in the Keswick Crescent area of Plymouth at about 00:40 control helped the caller whilst crews were on their way due to reports of the electric bike's lithium iron batteries being on fire and preventing them from exiting their property safely at the bottom of the occupants were able to get out of the first floor flat via the rear exit, the service said. The flat sustained 100% smoke damage and 90% fire damage and the cause of the fire was accidental.

Firefighters rescue dozens from burning high rise in Santiago
Firefighters rescue dozens from burning high rise in Santiago

The Independent

timea day ago

  • The Independent

Firefighters rescue dozens from burning high rise in Santiago

Firefighters rescued dozens of people from a mixed commercial and residential high rise in Chile's capital Thursday, plucking some from windows and balconies with ladder trucks and others from the roof by helicopter after a fire started in the building's basement. People waved shirts and other garments from the upper floors calling for help as a large plume of smoke rose into the sky. At least 15 fire companies responded, working quickly to successfully evacuate more than 100 people from the the building without loss of life. Some 40 people were treated on site, said Claudio Pavez, a coronel with Chile's national police force. The building was located near the Plaza the Armas, one of the most bustling central area's of Santiago. Juan Pablo Slako, a deputy commander with the firefighters, said that there were no fatalities and no serious injuries with most suffering smoke inhalation or shock. 'We don't have fire in the apartments, so we ask for calm,' said Álvaro Lara, vice superintendent of the firefighters, who added that the fire was controled.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store