A seatbelt saved the life of a female driver whose car plunged six storeys from a car park in Melbourne's CBD, paramedics say.
Rescue crews found the car lying crumpled on the passenger side with the woman hanging from the seatbelt in the driver's seat.
The 41-year-old woman was taken to hospital in a serious but stable condition with a severe cut to the top of her head and potential spinal injuries.
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MICA paramedic Matthew Riddle said the seatbelt saved the woman from taking the full force of the impact.
"Without the seatbelt she would have fallen down to the passenger side," he said.
"I think a lot of things contributed to keeping her alive today, the airbags, the seatbelt ... luck."
"It's pretty amazing she's still alive."
Police are yet to determine how the woman drove through the safety rail, just before 9am on Monday at the intersection of Franklin and Anthony streets.
But they say a building opposite the car park helped to break her fall.
"We believe the car has hit the side of the building before falling to the ground," Acting Senior Sergeant John Mason said.
"It could have contributed as to why she is in serious but stable condition and not much worse."
Early paramedic efforts to treat the woman were slowed with the car wedged between the two buildings in a narrow alley.
Fire crews removed a window and a section of the roof to give paramedics access in a 40-minute extraction.
Mr Riddle said the freak accident meant the woman's injuries were unique.
"It's different in a high-speed crash. The force comes from one direction but it looks like this car has hit a few buildings on the way down so she's been struck from a few angles.
"She was a little confused at first but as the job went on she became more oriented and she understood what was happening.
She couldn't really tell us what had happened."
Michael Rockefeller, who lives opposite the car park, ran downstairs after hearing a loud bang.
"It sounded like a truck was crashing," he said.
"The noise went on for five or six seconds. It was followed by a loud bang at the end."
