Mistaken for a gas leak, the smell of durian causes evacuation of library at University of Canberra

On the morning of May 10, assistance was called for due to “a strong smell of gas” inside the library of the University of Canberra, prompting fire and rescue teams to rush there. They quickly evacuated the library, while a statement from the university was released stating that atmospheric monitoring” was being conducted by hazardous materials crews who were searching the building. Crews found the source of the strong smell within an hour of starting the search. A statement from the emergency services department read, “Firefighters have completed a search of the building and located the source of the smell. The library is now being reoccupied and the building has been handed back to University of Canberra staff.” The library staff said that someone had left a durian close to an air vent on the second floor of the library. It was removed in a sealed bag, and the library was reopened. The library’s first Facebook post on that day, at 11:54 am, read, “We’ve been evacuated! Will post an update when students can re-enter the building. [edit: And we're open! Thanks to everyone for evacuating so quickly and safely - about 550 people left the building in under 6 minutes. Fortunately, the suspected gas leak turned out to be a part of a durian - the offending fruit has now been removed.]” By 12:42, a photo of a durian had been uploaded on the account, with the following update: “We are open! The lingering gas-like smell in the building is completely safe - someone left a durian fruit in one of our bins!” A durian caused a mass evacuation in an Australian campus library in April 2018, when around 600 students and staff of the RMIT campus in the Central Business District of Melbourne were evacuated, due to the suspicion of a gas leak. Nearly 40 firefighters and explosives specialists served the building. Many individuals, presumably students at the University of Canberra, commented on how much they love the fruit, however. One commenter even wrote about how there are signs in Singapore telling people not to eat durian on the train. /TISG Read related: Singaporeans poke fun at US Marines eating durian as part of jungle survival techniques