World Scene: Australia

Boy escapes clifftop car plunge

A 7-year-old Australian boy "redefined the word lucky" yesterday when he managed to escape from an out-of-control car moments before it plunged off a cliff, police said.

The boy went flying down his parents' driveway and across a busy street after freeing the gears while playing in the family car at Austinmer, south of Sydney, police said. He leapt from the vehicle as it smashed through a hilltop fence before plunging 8 meters down an embankment and rolling several times before smashing heavily into the beach below. Incredibly, police said, the boy landed in a bush with only minor injuries. "(He) redefined the word lucky," a police spokeswoman said.