Backpack saves US girl struck by taxi

The father of a 13-year-old New York City girl struck by a taxi when its driver suffered a heart attack says her backpack full of books saved her life.

Police say the crash occurred on Thursday morning as the teen was standing on a street corner near her home in the Borough Park section of Brooklyn.

Officials say the taxi driver had a heart attack at the wheel. Street surveillance video shows the runaway car jumping the kerb at a high rate of speed and hitting the girl from behind as she tried to get out of the way.

The impact sent her on to the bonnet. She suffered a leg fracture and was treated at a hospital.

The cab driver remains hospitalised in critical condition.