A dog out for a morning walk has unwittingly foiled a prison break after it detected that something was not quite right under its paws.

The pet was out with its owner on the Greek island of Corfu when it picked up the presence of inmates digging a tunnel underneath, the ANA news agency reported on Saturday.



The dog froze, clearly cocking an ear to suspicious sounds below and refusing to budge, until finally its owner decided to call the police.

Police found a tunnel about 30 metres long, starting from Corfu prison’s B wing where 21 convicts serving long or life terms are being held. Inside the tunnel, investigators found battery-powered fans and plastic containers of food, according to local reports.

The same prison could have used the dog’s help in 1996, when several dozen inmates escaped using an old tunnel dug by the English when the island was a British protectorate from 1814 to 1864.

Agence France-Presse contributed to this report

