A hiker's Chihuahua is being hailed as a "four-legged hero!"
On July 3, a hiker was traversing the Fee Glacier in southern Switzerland with his small dog when he broke through a snow bridge and fell into a crevasse in the ice mass, per rescue service Air Zermatt. Only the hiker fell and ended up trapped 26 feet deep in the crevasse, according to CBS News; the adventure-loving Chihuahua remained at the surface.
The hiker, who has thus far been unnamed, was carrying a walkie-talkie and used it to call for help following his fall. He reached another person nearby, but they were unable to locate him among the vast glacier. Around 3 p.m. local time, an Air Zermatt crew set out to find the hiker.
The search was a challenging one, Air Zermatt stated — the glacier itself was large and wide, and the hole containing the hiker was so narrow it was barely visible from the surface. Rescuers got a lucky break and found the man, thanks to the little dog.
"One of the rescue specialists spotted a small movement on a rock: the Chihuahua! Right next to it was the collapsed hole through which the man had fallen into the crevasse," read Air Zermatt's announcement. "Thanks to the dog's behavior, the crew was able to locate the exact site of the accident."