'Gas'-lighted? Durians in Germany behind gas leak reports to firefighters

Firefighters in a German city found themselves in one thorny situation after another when residents activated them three times in one day over gas leaks - which, in fact, turned out to be the penetrating waft of the durian.

- Eileen Ng Correspondent

Visitors at a shopping centre in Wiesbaden, a city in the western German state of Hesse, called the fire brigade on the afternoon of Oct 4 after noticing a gas smell.

The firefighters did some checks and did not find anything amiss, German media reported.

A few hours later, they received similar reports in the same area.

This time, the firefighters searched nearby shops and found that the smell, thought to be from a gas leak, came instead from durians sold at an Asian supermarket.