Nov. 11 (UPI) — Austrian rescuers said they found a German mountaineer alive five days after he became trapped in a crevasse in the Austrian Alps.
They found the hiker — identified only as Henning K — Thursday trapped in a 3-foot fissure in the Dachstein mountains near Salzburg. Though he didn’t sustained any serious injuries, his core body temperature had dropped and he was undergoing treatment in an intensive care unit.
Henning K set off for his hiking trip Nov. 4, but when his father hadn’t heard from him two days later, he notified authorities that his son may be missing.
Police were unable to locate Henning K at first, but officer Gunter Reischl said he became suspicious of several dropped phone calls to the police department. The hiker had been attempting to contact police, but his limited cell service prevented the calls from connecting.
“It was a pure gut feeling,” Reischl told local newspaper Oberösterreichische Nachrichten.
Reischl sent a text message to Henning K’s phone and they were able to locate him using his GPS location.
Henning K said he survived on a protein bar until rescuers were able to reach his location.
