MIAMI - Palm tree fronds may have saved the life of a 4-year-old boy who on Friday morning fell from a 17th-floor balcony at the Doubletree Grand Hotel, Miami police said.

The boy, whose name was not released by authorities, somehow climbed over a covered balcony railing, bounced off a palm tree and safely landed on the "dirt surface" of an area surrounding the hotel's 10th-floor pool, said Kenia Reyes, a Miami police spokeswoman.

"It's a miracle - he doesn't appear to have broken a bone," said Reyes, who said the boy was taken to Jackson Memorial Hospital for observation.

Lt. Ignatius Carroll, a spokesman for Miami Fire Rescue, was equally astonished the boy had survived the fall, saying the boy may have fallen 70 to 80 feet. He said he has seen people die from falls of 30 feet.

"It's amazing that he's alive," Carroll said.

When paramedics arrived, the boy was crying and had difficulty speaking but physically appeared fine, according to Carroll.

"He looked to be in pretty good shape. He wasn't all banged up like we expected," Carroll said.

The boy was with his mother and two other adults at the time of the fall, said Reyes, who said authorities were called about 11 a.m.

Reyes said the fall appears to be an accident, though investigators are puzzled as to how the boy climbed the railing.

"It's a secure building," Reyes said.