Tortoise falls from high-rise balcony and injures seven-year-old girl

A seven-year-old girl is lucky to be alive after being hit by a bouncing tortoise which fell from a high-rise balcony.

The schoolgirl, from Zhongshan in southern China, was hit by the animal - which weighed around a kilogram - as she played with friends.

Her mum says if she had been hit in the head, she would have died.

Tragically the tortoise is believed to have died after hitting her knee.

According to her mum, Ms Chen, the girl who was not named and other kids were playing by themselves downstairs when the freak accident happened.

The large tortoise is said to have landed on the ground and then cut the girl's left knee as it bounced up.

The injured girl was taken to a local hospital for treatment and luckily avoided serious injuries.

Ms Chen said: "The tortoise fell from a high floor, bounced off the ground and cut her leg when it struck her.

"It swelled for two to three days. I was terrified she had broken a bone.

"Fortunately, it didn't hit her head. If it had hit her head from such a height, she'd have died.

"She was running around with another child at the time. Had the other child run a bit faster, it would've struck them right on the head."

Local police investigating the freak occurrence have reportedly identified several homeowners in the building who raise tortoises and turtles.

However, they were still trying to determine which home the tortoise fell or was thrown from.

If found to have been deliberately thrown from the balcony of a home in the high-rise, the owner is likely to face criminal charges, reports said.