The AP in Berlin is reporting that a teenage girl, known only as Thessa, was shocked to receive a “surprise” party for her 16^th birthday. This was not a surprise party in the traditional sense – Thessa sent out an invitation for the festivities via Facebook but had failed to mark the event as private. This resulted in 1500 people crashing the party meant only for family members and close friends. 100 police officers, some of them mounted, arrived and attempted to bring some order to the chaotic bash.

Luckily, the parents were aware that the Facebook invite had gone viral. Over 15,000 people confirmed their attendance. Announcements were made that the party had been cancelled, but the 1500 showed up anyway. Police were already on hand and worked to disperse the crowd.

After everything was said and done, Eleven people were held, an officer was injured and several of the young ladies had their feet cut from broken glass. Also, two fires had to be extinguished by emergency responders.

Thessa was said to have sneaked off quietly, and enjoyed a quite birthday after all with her grandparents.

Always remember to properly control your privacy settings for Facebook and other social networks, lest you be in for some unwelcome surprises of your own.

Image Credit: AP Photo/dapd, Stefan Simonsen