Woman Survives 23-Story Fall from Hotel

The woman, whose name was not released, underwent surgery midday Monday and had a lung, a kidney and her spleen removed, according to officials cited by AFP.

A hospital spokesman told Telam, the national news agency of Argentina, the woman hit the taxi in a seated position -- which likely saved her life.

Had she come down head first it would probably have been a different story, noted Alberto Crescenti, director of Argentina's emergency medical services.

The taxi driver, Miguel Cajal, narrowly escaped death, he told Buenos Aires television station, C5N.

Cajal said he saw a police officer looking up and, following his glance, also looked up. He saw the woman falling and got out of his cab just moments before the impact completely destroyed both the roof and the windshield.