SPORTS> Off the Pitch
Dutch barge clashes with giant German soccer screen
(Reuters)
Updated: 2006-06-30 09:47
A giant screen set up in the middle of the River Main in Frankfurt to show the soccer World Cup had a narrow escape when it was struck by a Dutch barge more than 170 metres long.

Police said the 65-year-old Dutch captain of the vessel went the wrong way under a bridge ahead of the screen and collided with it early on Thursday.

The screen has attracted more than a million spectators since the tournament began on June 9, said Tourism + Congress GmbH Frankfurt, which put up the display.

Tourism + Congress Managing Director Guenter Hampel said only the frame had been dented, however.

"The screen works perfectly fine," he said. "(The dent is) a bit like a souvenir. People are coming to have their pictures taken next to it."