The king of fruits may be adored in Malaysia, but in Germany, its pungent smell caused panic and a series of false alarms.
Last Saturday (Oct. 4), firefighters in Wiesbaden, a city in western Germany, were called out four separate times in one day after residents reported a suspected gas leak.
Firefighters rushed in, but no gas found
According to Deutsche Presse-Agentur (DPA), the first emergency call came in the afternoon from a shopping centre, where people thought they could smell leaking gas.
A fire brigade team rushed to the scene and conducted tests — but found no trace of gas in the air.
To their surprise, the building wasn’t even connected to a gas supply system.
The real culprit: durian at an Asian supermarket
Later in the evening, another call came from the same location, claiming the gas smell had returned.
This time, firefighters tracked the odour to its true source — durians being sold inside an Asian supermarket.
Authorities said the shopping centre’s ventilation system likely spread the strong smell throughout the building, tricking residents into thinking it was a gas leak.
Same issue at a housing area
On the same night, firefighters were dispatched yet again, this time to a residential area. After checking the premises, they once more found that the smell didn’t come from leaking gas — but from a durian fruit.
While many Malaysians swear by durian as the “King of Fruits,” the thorny delicacy often leaves foreigners overwhelmed.
