A group of German postal workers had to receive medical treatment and taken to hospital after they were exposed to a pungent package -- containing durians, CNN reported.

This news will likely tickle readers from Southeast Asia where durians are a delicacy, but the odour also caused the entire building to be evacuated, with around 60 employees forced to leave because of the smell of the fruit.

Police and firefighters called

Police, firefighters and emergency services were called to a post office in the Bavarian town of Schweinfurt on Saturday, June 20, after staff noticed a smell coming from a shipment.

"Due to the unknown content, it was initially unclear whether the suspect package posed a greater risk," a statement from Schweinfurt police department explained.

The package was carefully examined subsequently.

It turned out to contain four Thai durian fruits.

They belong to a 50-year-old resident of the town who had sent the fruits home from a friend in Nuremberg.

Nausea

"A total of 12 postal workers who complained of nausea had to be taken care of on site," police in Schweinfurt said.

Six others were taken to the hospital as a precaution, police also said.

Six ambulances, five first-responder cars and two emergency vehicles attended the incident.

Three different fire departments were also involved.

The fruit was delivered to its intended recipient in the end.

Durians causing panics are not new.

In 2019, staff at the University of Canberra library were forced to evacuate the building due to a suspected gas leak.

But a search revealed durian was the cause of the stench.

Top photo via Unsplash