/ 22 February 2005

Lucky landing for child who crawled out a window

A four-year-old boy escaped unscathed after falling from a fifth floor window in central China and landing in a lorry full of cushions, a news report said on Tuesday.

The youngster crawled out of a window at his home in Jiaozuo, Henan province, and hit awnings as he plummetted towards the ground, the Hong Kong edition of The China Daily reported.

The awnings bounced him away from the side of the building and into the back of a parked lorry filled with a load of cushions on the roadside, the newspaper said.

The lorry driver found the boy lying spreadeagled on top of the cushions and only discovered he had fallen from a fifth floor apartment when he set out to search for his family, the report said. – Sapa-DPA