Some light airbed-fixing DIY ended badly for a Düsseldorf man when he blew up his flat instead of the inflatable mattress he was attempting to fix.

According to Spiegel, the 45-year-old patched the leaky bed earlier this week with some "tyre solvent", and left it overnight. The next day, a spark from the mattress's electric air pump ignited the solvent, and the resulting explosion blew the living room wall into the stairwell, knocked out windows and wrecked furniture.

A fire brigade spokesman said: "The apartment looked devastated."

Emergency services evacuated 23 people from the bed blast building and a neighbouring property, blocking off the street while operatives checked for structural damage.

Both the man and a three-year-old girl suffered burns in the incident, estimated to have caused €20k of damage. He faces a possible "causing an explosion through negligence" charge. ®

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