Dortmund, Germany  - A football fan died Wednesday before a German Cup game in the round of the last 16 in Dortmund after falling from the terraces.

Werder Bremen came from behind to oust last year's losing finalist 2-1 to advance to the quarter-finals, while Bayer Leverkusen beat Energie Cottbus 3-0 to go through.

Police said that the man fell from the south terrace in the Signal-Iduna-Park and although he was immediately airlifted to hospital doctors pronounced him dead on arrival.

Police said that they did not know the reason for the incident, but believed it to be a tragic accident.

The game went ahead with neither side knowing about the incident and Swiss international Alexander Frei gave the home an early lead, but instead of pushing forward searching for a second goal, Dortmund sat back, allowing Bremen to take command.

The visitors were rewarded for their efforts on the hour when Hugo Almeida managed to find the equalizer.

With ten minutes to go, Brazilian midfielder Diego saw his free- kick well saved by Roman Weidenfeller, only for Claudio Pizarro to slam the ball into the back of the net.

In Leverkusen the home side had all but sealed matters by the end of the first half as they were already leading 3-0 through goals by Patrick Helmes, Michal Kadlec and Renato Augusto.

Leverkusen sat back in the second half, but were never under any real pressure and an injury time consolation goal by Ervin Skela did nothing to prevent Leverkusen's progress into the next round.

Later Wednesday Karlsruhe SC entertain second division Wehen Wiesbaden, while VfL Wolfsburg are at home to another second division team, Hansa Rostock.

On Tuesday Bayern Munich scored a convincing 5-1 victory at VfB Stuttgart, while SV Hamburg (3-1 against second division 1860 Munich) and Schalke 04 (4-1 at third division Carl Zeiss Jena) beat lower division opposition.

In an all-second division clash Mainz 05, who are topping the table and seem well on course for a speedy return to the Bundesliga, beat SC Freiburg 3-1 to become the only non-first division team in the quarter-finals. (dpa)