The world's luckiest taxi driver: Cabbie cheats death after Taiwan plane clipped his car before plunging into river

A taxi driver is lucky to be alive after a passenger plane clipped his vehicle before hitting a motorway overpass and crashing into a river in Taiwan killing at least 31 people.

The cabbie, named locally as Mr Zhou, scrambled from the wreckage of his car with serious injuries before telling doctors 'I fainted the moment it hit us'.

Flight 235 with 58 people aboard - many of them travellers from China - banked sharply on its side on Wednesday shortly after takeoff from Taipei, smashing into a highway bridge and then plunging into the Keelung River below.

Mr Zhou, who is said to have a heart condition, reportedly clambered from his vehicle before admitting: 'I am lucky to be alive'.

A two-year-old boy was one of four children who miraculously survived the terrifying crash. So far 15 survivors have been pulled from the wreckage of the plane, as more than 1,000 rescue personnel scramble to try and save people trapped in the aircraft which crashed into the Keeling River in the capital city of Taipei.

Dramatic footage of the rescue operation, which is still ongoing, shows the child being carried out on the aeroplane by emergency workers with barely a scratch on him. Once the dinghy reaches dry land, he is rushed away to be looked over by medics.