Baby Falls From 8th Floor Paris Apartment, Lives

In what can best be described a minor miracle, a 15-month-old girl was left unscathed after plummeting from a 8-story apartment, bouncing off a cafe's awning and into the arms of a bewildered passerby in Paris, the Guardian is reporting.

The baby had been left unsupervised with her four-year-old sister when she fell out of the window, a Parisian police officer told the daily Le Parisien. A young man saw the baby about to tumble and alerted his father, who raced to get into position beneath the cafe's awning to catch the child.

"He must have played rugby for years to have developed reflexes like that," a bystander is quoted by Reuters as saying. Police say the girl appeared to have no serious injuries, but was admitted to a local hospital regardless. Circumstances regarding the child's care were unclear. "The parents were absent, and it's a bit difficult questioning the two girls given their age," a police spokesperson said, according to Reuters.

Meanwhile, the cafe's owner called his decision to leave the awning open a stroke of luck. "I usually close it to stop it catching fire, as people tend to throw their cigarette butts onto it." he said.