The ‘King’ sent 6 German postal workers to hospital and caused an evacuation

News By: Ravivarma Muniandy

Editor: Deena Yasmeen Abdul Ghaffar

Image Source: Google Images

BAVARIA, 20 June - A total of 12 postal workers in Germany are being treated at the hospital, while dozens are being taken out of the post office in Schweinfurt, Germany.

They are said to have received medical treatment for nausea after inhaling a strong odour from a pack containing durian yesterday.

It is understood that the police, fire department, and medical team were deployed to the post office to check the packages.

Police ordered all occupants of the building to evacuate, including 60 workers before police and firefighters brought the parcel outside and opened it.

Everything started after a post office staff was suspected of smelling an unusual odour.

"Because the contents of the package are unknown and unclear, they are considered high risk items," Schweinfurt police said as quoted by CNN's international news portal.

Following the investigation, the package contained four durians from Thailand sent by a 50-year-old Schweinfurt resident to a friend in Nuremberg.

Police said 12 workers seeking treatment at the hospital complained of nausea, while six were taken to the hospital for further precautionary measure.

This is not the first time this fruit has caused a commotion. Last year, the library at the University of Canberra was forced to vacate because of a gas leak and search results later found that the odour came from durians.

Previously, the Fear Factor reality program had featured durian as one of the foods that the participants had to eat. Participants are usually required to eat disgusting animals or birds on the reality show.

Durian’s creamy texture is similar to that of a cheesecake and is very well-known is Asia, especially in Malaysia by the title “King of fruits”, but some also claim that it smells similar to unwashed feet or even rotten onions.

Vimala Shanmugam (Media Communications), a student from Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, expressed her views on the fruit’s odour and taste despite it being one of the most popular fruits in the country.

“It’s a nightmare to talk to people who just ate durian due to the smell of their breath. It’s dangerous to break open due to the spiky skin layer and it is found everywhere in Malaysia because the flavour is incorporated into a lot of things from ice cream to cakes.”

David Samuel Ang, a student from Philippines also shared his view on this fruit.

“The smell is probably the reason why I don’t like it the most. It doesn’t smell particularly bad, but the smell is very strong and it overwhelms my nose.”