German glues self to roof

Sticky situation

By Lester Haines • Get more from this author

Posted in Bootnotes, 14th March 2007 09:24 GMT

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A nonagenarian German handyman has continued the time-honoured Teutonic tradition of getting stuck to roofs, the Sydney Morning Herald reports.

Last year, 59-year-old August Voegl of Jennersdorf, Austria, nailed himself to a roof through his wedding tackle. This appears to have provoked an unnamed 91-year-old from Magdeburg to fly the flag for Germany by gluing himself to his own roof with bitumen.

According to police, passers-by were initially "so shocked to see the elderly handyman working on the roof they first thought he was planning to commit suicide". No so, according to a police spokesman, who explained: "In fact he was just re-coating the roofing with bitumen. But then he slipped."

He continued: "When we got there, he was like a beetle on its back, with his arms and legs sprawled out and completely glued to the roof. Due to his age, he couldn't free himself from his unfortunate situation."

Fireman were able to separate the DIYer from the roof. He was reportedly unharmed but "sticky". ®