Around 500 university students and professors had to flee the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) in Melbourne, Australia, after the smell of rotten durian was mistaken for gas leak on April 28.
The stench started inside the library and people started panic. The Metropolitan Fire Brigade (MFB) of Melbourne responded and found no evidence of any harmful chemical leakage.
Instead, a rotten durian was discovered inside a cupboard. Its odour apparently spread via the library’s air-conditioning system.
According to the Washington Post, the MFB has already released a statement to pacify the public. “After a comprehensive search, firefighters identified the smell was not chemical gas, but gas generated from rotting durian, an extremely pungent fruit which had been left rotting in a cupboard,” the MFB stated.
The firefighters and the Viktoria Police have cleared the RMIT of any danger and is now back in business.
