University evacuated over smelly fruit

Over 500 students had to be evacuated from a university library over a suspected gas leak, which turned out to be a durian fruit.

The University Of Canberra’s library Facebook page warned students on Friday that the building had been evacuated, with staff helping 550 students leave the building in just six minutes.

The post on Facebook added: ‘Fortunately the suspected gas leak turned out to be a part of a durian – the offending fruit has now been removed.

The fruit was reported to have been left in one of the bins in the library.

Durian fruit is well known for its strong odour and thorn covered skin.

Although the fruit is extremely popular in south-east Asia, it is banned on public transport systems in Thailand and Hong Kong.

A number of students commented on the notice about the evacuation.

One wrote: ‘Tastes like heaven. Smells like hell! In Singapore they have “don’t eat durian” on the train signs!’

While another wrote: ‘The smell is terrible but nice to eat.’