Argentina woman survives 23-storey hotel fall Published duration 24 January 2011

media caption The aftermath of the fall was captured by a passer-by with a mobile phone

A woman has survived after falling from the 23rd floor of a hotel in the Argentine capital, Buenos Aires.

Her fall was broken by a taxi, whose driver got out moments before the impact crushed the roof and shattered the windscreen.

Eyewitnesses said the woman had climbed over a safety barrier and leapt from a restaurant at the top of the Hotel Crowne Plaza Panamericano.

She was taken to intensive care for treatment for multiple injuries.

The woman, who has not been named, is reported to be an Argentine in her 30s.

The taxi driver, named by local media as Miguel, said he got out of his vehicle just before the impact after noticing a policeman looking up.

"I got out of the car a second before. If I had not got out, I would have been killed," he told Radio 10.

"I was only 10 metres from the impact. It made a terrible noise," he added.