Man tries to fix airbed, blows up apartment

A woman sleeps on an air mattress as she camps out for tickets in Wimbledon, June 19, 2005.

BERLIN (Reuters) - A German who tried to fix his leaky air mattress blew up his apartment instead, the fire brigade in the western city of Duesseldorf said Wednesday.

The 45-year-old man used tire 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 spokesman said.

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

Fire fighters evacuated the 12-apartment building and a neighboring 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.

(Reporting by Caroline Copley; Editing by Richard Balmforth)