Melbourne university goes into tizzy over rotten durian: 500 people evacuated as fruit's stench mistaken for gas leak

Melbourne: More than 500 students and teachers were evacuated from a university in Melbourne on Sunday as a result of a smell initially suspected to be gas. [caption id=“attachment_4449989” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of a vendor seeling the durian fruit. Reuters[/caption] But it turned out the “gas” that students smelt at a Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology library was a rotting durian found in a cupboard, reports the BBC. The durian is a tropical fruit known for its strong, pungent smell. Firefighters said the smell had moved through the building via the air conditioning system. The building has now been reopened, Melbourne’s Metropolitan Fire Brigade said. Durians are a prized fruit in Southeast Asia with a sweet and creamy flesh, but their smell can take some getting used to.