A 10-week-old baby was airlifted to hospital after it was sent flying when its buggy careered 160 feet down a mountain slope when the tot's mum let go.

Police in Fiss, in Austria's Tyrolean Oberland, say the mum and her baby were on an alpine hike on 14th July when she stopped to open a gate into a field.

But she forgot to set the brake on the buggy, which rolled out of control down the slope, hurling the baby out when it crashed.

A police spokesperson said: "The pushchair rolled about 50 metres [164 feet] downhill and rolled over several times. The baby was thrown from the pushchair.

"Shortly before 1 pm, the 23-year-old mother attempted to open a gate in front of the alpine pasture, when the pushchair suddenly began to move.

By an incredible stroke of luck, a local mountain rescue team was passing by and gave immediate first aid to the baby and brought the mum and her tot down into the valley.

Following emergency treatment at the Zams hospital, the injured infant was helicoptered to the University Hospital in Innsbruck.

Hospital spokesperson Johannes Schwamberger told local media: "It is injured, but not life-threatening."

The infant is currently in the paediatric intensive care unit "for safety and observation".

(Joseph Golder / newsX)