TIMISOARA, Romania - A bid by a Romanian man to have his identity papers renewed have run into some unexpected trouble.


It seems bureaucrats at the record office in Timisora, Romania, insist he died more than eight years ago.

Retiree Gheorghe Stirbu, 61, says he went to authorities last week to have his identity card reissued because the old one had expired.

But the clerk said he couldn't issue new papers because the office had a death certificate showing that Stirbu himself had expired on March 3, 1999, from breathing difficulties.

Stirbu says he was not ill at the time and can't explain what happened.

He has since prepared papers to prove he is still alive.

"When I saw it I couldn't believe it," Stirbu said Thursday. "How can someone who is fully alive be declared dead?"

Stirbu's daughter, Iuliana Mocanu, said the shock of hearing he was officially dead could have killed her father.

"At first I laughed because I though it was a joke and then I realized how serious it was," she said. "He could have had a heart attack. He didn't sleep for days when he found out the news."

Vasile Tarciatu, the head of bureau that issues identity papers, was a little red-faced over the incident.

"We have had mistakes in the past," Tarciatu said. "But not something so serious showing someone had died."