AN INDIAN construction worker miraculously survived being impaled by a seven-foot iron rod that skewered his skull.

Mohammad Duddu, 24, was mixing cement at a construction site when the rod accidentally fell from the fourth floor, piercing the top of his head in Malad, Mumbai.

The piece of construction material struck his head with such force, it protruded out of the back of his skull.

Shocking x-rays show the rod totally embedded through his head.

He was saved after doctors at a government hospital cut open the skull and pulled out the rod in a five-hour long surgery.

While Guddu is now out of danger and responding well to treatment, he has developed paralysis on the left side of his body. But doctors say he will fully recover in three months.

Dr Batuk Diyora, the neurosurgeon who led the team, said: "It is indeed a miracle that the man survived such an injury.

"It was a tricky surgery but what helped saving him was the fact that the rod had pierced a noneloquent region of his brain, an area that has no easily discernible cognitive, motor, or sensory functions and didn't damage the vital arteries that carry blood to the brain.

"The patient's brain stem wasn't damaged and the arteries carrying blood to the brain were also safe.

"The rod was sterilised to ensure there wasn't an infection."

Guddu is likely to remain in hospital for at least two weeks.