Students were forced to evacuate at an Australian university because of a suspected gas leak that turned out to be a discarded durian.
Emergency crews cleared 550 people from the University of Canberra library Friday before a search revealed the stench was caused by the popular but putrid tropical fruit, which was left in a trash bin.
“Fortunately the suspected gas leak turned out to be a part of a durian — the offending fruit has now been removed,” the library wrote in a Facebook post.
But the building still reeked when students were allowed to re-enter less than an hour later.
In another update on Facebook, the library reassured students “the lingering gas-like smell in the building is completely safe.”
The incident wasn’t the first time the spiky fruit — which is often banned from hotels and public transportation in Southeast Asia because of its fetid scent — has caused an evacuation.
A rotting durian left behind in a cupboard prompted a clear-out of the library at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology University last year, when it was also mistaken for a gas leak.