Facebook blunder leads crowd to teen's birthday

HAMBURG, GERMANY: More than 1,600 people showed up to celebrate a German teenager's 16th birthday party after she inadvertently invited the public to attend on Facebook, Hamburg police said on Sunday.

The teenager named Thessa fled her home in the leafy Bramfeld section of Hamburg and alerted police after 15,000 Facebook users accepted her invitation ahead of the Friday evening birthday party, police spokesman Mirko Streiber said.

The crowd of 1,600 mostly jovial revelers jammed into the street on a balmy evening in front of her house while about 100 police were on hand to keep order for the duration from 7 p.m. and 2 a.m. Thessa had unwittingly neglected to mark her party as private on the social network, police said.

Last year too there was a similar incident when 21,000 people responded to a teen's party invite on Facebook though he just wanted to invite a handful of close friends to his 14th birthday.

11 people taken into custody

Streiber said 11 people were taken into custody for violations ranging from bodily harm and resisting arrest to property damage and violating explosives laws.

"It was by and large a peaceful party," Streiber said. "There were some fires set alight, some acts of violence and with considerable alcohol consumption there was some property damage. There have been larger organized birthday parties in Hamburg but this may be the largest unorganized birthday party ever."