A 15-year-old Russian girl fell five storeys to her death yesterday morning after attempting to jump from her balcony to her friend's room at a hotel in St Paul's Bay.

As she attempted the manoeuvre, she slipped, falling five storeys and landing on the pavement outside the Topaz Hotel in Triq iċ-Ċagħaq at around 12.30 a.m., police sources told The Sunday Times. Kristina Cepleebha Yasinskaya was in Malta to study English.

Artashes Hovasapyan, who saw the incident, said he was on the opposite side of the road and had just put his daughter's pushchair in the boot of his car when Ms Yasinskaya fell.

"I heard something strange - first a thump, then a slapping sound. I turned and saw something black on the pavement - she probably landed on her head," he said.

At first, Mr Hovasapyan thought there was a black bag or a mat on the pavement. "I didn't pay much attention to it. It was only when I started walking that I saw the contrast of her skin against her black clothes and realised she was a human being." He immediately called for an ambulance.

The girl, born in St Petersburg, was wearing a black skirt and top and was bleeding from her ears. "I didn't touch her. I didn't even know the area so, while still on the phone, I called out to some British tourists outside her hotel to give me its name."

People started gathering around to see what had happened and one student knelt down and placed his fingers on Ms Yasinskaya's neck to check for her pulse but could not feel anything. "There was no way to help her", Mr Hovasapyan said.

The girl died on the spot and was certified dead by paramedics who arrived soon after in an ambulance.

Mr Hovasapyan said he did not hear a sound before she hit the ground. "She didn't scream and I think she was alone in her balcony because I guess the other person would have screamed seeing her fall," he said.

One student who knew Ms Yasinskaya said they had previously tried to dissuade her jumping from one balcony to another but she ignored their pleas.

So far, the police are not suspecting any foul play.

Magistrate Lawrence Quintano appointed several experts to help him in his inquiry.