A 10-week-old baby miraculously survived a 160-foot fall down a mountain in Austria after the mother let go of the pram.
The pushchair started uncontrollably rolling down the steep slope after the mother, 23, stopped to open a gate into a field at around 12.55pm on July 14, police said.
It tumbled nearly 50 metres and overturned several times before crashing, throwing the baby out.
“The pushchair rolled about 50 metres downhill and rolled over several times,” a police spokesperson said. “The baby was thrown from the pushchair.”
The police are investigating the incident but have not yet spoken to the family, who are in shock, Austria’s national public broadcaster ORF reported.
The family of three had been hiking in the Tyrolean Alps in the Serfaus-Fiss-Ladis area. The incident occurred on the way to Frommes Alp in Fiss municipality, according to German newspaper Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger.
The Fiss mountain rescue team happened to be nearby and rushed to help. They gave the baby first aid and helped the family down the slope.
The baby received emergency treatment at the Zams hospital, after which it was helicoptered to the University Hospital in Innsbruck.
Hospital spokesperson Johannes Schwamberger told local media the baby was injured but was not in life-threatening condition.
The child is in a paediatric intensive care unit “for safety and observation”.
“Considering the severity of the accident, the child was extremely lucky,” Mr Schwamberger added.
The baby’s father was also present during the hike, police confirmed.
The incident comes after a boy, 7, suffered life-threatening injuries after a car ploughed into a trampoline in Germany earlier this month.
After hitting the trampoline, it launched into the air and smashed into a barn. Initial findings of a police investigation indicate that alcohol was not a factor, Bild reported.
In a separate incident this month, a child died and 21 people were injured after a British school coach overturned in Exmoor, Somerset. Two children were airlifted to hospital with serious injuries.
The coach, carrying year-five pupils from Minehead Middle School, was returning from a trip to Exmoor Zoo when it went off road and slid 20ft down a bank.
