Marriage proposal a mixed success

AMSTERDAM – A Dutchman’s attempt at a romantic wedding proposal was simply smashing.

The unidentified lover in the central town of Ijsselstein rented a crane, planning to descend in front of his girlfriend’s bedroom window first thing Saturday morning, play her a song and then pop the question. Instead, the crane toppled over, smashing a large hole in the neighbors’ roof.

The man clambered to safety and no one was injured.

According to the Algemeen Dagblad newspaper, the girlfriend said “yes” anyway. After speaking with police, the pair traveled to Paris to celebrate.

Then the crane fell again during attempts to right it with a larger crane, bashing in the rest of the neighbors’ roof.

The town’s mayor was on the spot after the building was declared unsafe. Six apartments were evacuated.