Man breaks arm at Oktoberfest arm wrestling contest

A 25-year-old visitor from Berlin has broken his arm during an arm wrestling match on the opening day of the world-renowned Oktoberfest in Munich - but still managed to come second.

"We're currently looking after the poor chap in the emergency room," the Aicher Ambulanz emergency services team said in a blog post.

The service is operating a live blog detailing the medical incidents at this year's Oktoberfest.

Someone on their writers team is clearly a football aficionado, as the blog noted the current bad luck Berliners are having in Munich. On Friday the home team Bayern Munich trounced Union Berlin seven-nil.

"Seven goals conceded against Bayern yesterday, a broken arm at the Wiesn today: things aren't going Berlin's way in Munich at the moment."

Unfortunately, switching to a different sport (arm wrestling) at the Oktoberfest hadn't brought about a turnaround, the Aicher team went on to write.

"For the next rematch, we recommend simply keeping your fingers crossed."

Meanwhile - for at least one native son, there was just too much beer flowing on the first day.

Aicher reported their first case of alcohol poisoning was a 19-year-old man from Munich.

He underestimated the beer at the festival "so much so that he could no longer stand".

The team attended to the drunk teenager at the scene, according to the blog post.