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. ®

Related stories

• Crystal ball torches woman's flat (12 August 2009)
• DIY satellite TV installer shoots wife dead (27 March 2008)
• German glues self to roof (14 March 2007)
• Austrian nails testicle to roof (18 October 2006)