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Apartment collapses from weight of papers

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TOKYO, Feb. 8 (UPI) -- A second-story apartment in Tokyo collapsed from the weight of old magazines and newspapers piled up on the floor over 20 years; no one was hurt.

The room collapsed in Tokyo at about 8 p.m. Sunday. Firefighters called to the scene rescued the 56-year-old tenant out from under the piles of magazines.

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The man, who had lived alone in the apartment since 1981, had apparently been keeping newspapers and magazines there since he moved in. Police stacked the magazines into piles 20 inches high and 98 feet wide.

The resident on the first floor of the apartment building, feeling nervous as the ceiling began to squeak, had fled the room to alert local police. The collapse occurred as he was escorting police officers to the apartment block.

The wooden apartment block was built more than 30 years ago, reported the Mainichi Shimbun Tuesday.

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