AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - A suspected thief came to a gruesome end stuck between two walls after falling off a rooftop into the tiny space between two medieval houses in Amsterdam's historic city center.
Inhabitants made the macabre find of his bruised body, suspended between the second and third floors, after they returned from holiday, Dutch police told Reuters Sunday.
"The man apparently fell in flight after police came to investigate reports of someone walking on the roof late at night. Everything indicates he was likely a thief, but it still has to be confirmed," police spokesman Ron Moes told Reuters.
Some witnesses said they had heard groans coming from the house.
Part of the wall had to be torn down to recover the body from its awkward position in a space just 40-50 centimeters wide, he said.
As Amsterdam, known locally as "the city on poles," was built on a swampy peat bog. Old houses were built on wooden stakes driven deep in the ground for stability. A gap was left in between buildings in case they tilted.
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