Durian fruit triggers three gas leak alarms in one day in Germany city

The first alarm came on the afternoon of Oct. 4, when visitors at a shopping mall in Wiesbaden reported a strong smell of gas. Fire crews swept the area but found nothing wrong. Hours later, another call came in from the same neighborhood, and this time firefighters traced the odor to an Asian supermarket, The Straits Times reported.

There, durians, the spiky tropical fruit nicknamed the "king of fruits," were sitting in crates. The mall's ventilation system had spread the smell throughout the building, Deutsche Welle reported.

By evening, yet another alarm rang. Residents of an apartment block complained of gas in the stairwell. Firefighters arrived prepared for the worst, only to find a tenant had brought home a durian.

The fruit, prized across Southeast Asia for its sweet, custard-like flesh, has long split opinion. Fans say its flavor is rich and addictive. Detractors compare its smell to rotten onions, sewage, or, as in Wiesbaden, leaking gas. The odor is so notorious that durians are banned in many hotels, subways, and buses in Singapore, Thailand and other countries.

Wiesbaden is far from alone. In recent years, durian has caused evacuations and fire brigade callouts across the world. In 2018, a university library in Canberra was evacuated after a durian was left in a bin; in 2021, another durian scare prompted firefighters to rush to a Canberra shopping precinct; and just last month in northern England, a durian sparked complaints of a "gas leak" that brought out engineers.