Firefighters were dispatched to a settlement in Canberra, Australia, on Friday after receiving reports from residents about the smell of leaking gas. However, officers did not find the source of the smell after several hours of sweeping.
One resident, Phuong Tran, later joked on social media that the smell was probably durian because it looked similar. He suspected that there were local people who ate it. Berita Terkini
The local Emergency Services Agency later confirmed Tran’s post after reports from the owner of a restaurant and shop not far from the neighborhood about durians. Berita Hari Ini
“After a brief investigation, officers confirmed (the durian) was the origin of the incident. The fruit has a very strong odor and can spread far,” the emergency services statement said on Facebook, as reported by The Washington Post.
In the interview, Tran said he suspected the smell was durian from Dickson, a neighborhood that is home to many Asian restaurants and shops.
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Many Southeast Asians live in Australia, such as Malaysia, a major durian producer and consumer.
This is not the first case of Australians calling first responders after thinking there was a gas leak which turned out to be durian. In 2018, nearly 500 students and lecturers of the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology were evacuated from the campus library after warnings of a chemical leak emerged. After an investigation, it turned out that the cause was a piece of durian in the cupboard. Berita politik
The following year, a similar case occurred again. Students were evacuated from the University of Canberra library following a pungent gas smell. Hazmat-clad fire crews roamed the place, the source being durians again.
Durian is banned in some hotels and public transportation in several countries such as Singapore and Japan, because its distinctive smell can cause public commotion. Avril Lavigne Fanpage