/ 15 July 2009

Man tries to fix airbed, blows up apartment

A German man who tried to fix his leaky air mattress blew up his apartment instead, the fire brigade in the western city of Düsseldorf said on Wednesday.

The 45-year-old man used tyre-repair solvent to plug a hole in his airbed and left it overnight.

But it blew up when he went to inflate it the next day. ”A spark from the electric air pump ignited it,” a fire brigade spokesperson said.

The blast pushed his living room wall into the building’s stairwell and caused extensive damage to walls, windows and furniture.

Firefighters evacuated the 12-apartment building and a neighbouring housing block while they checked for structural damage.

The man suffered burns on his arms, while a three-year-old girl suffered first-degree burns. — Reuters