A red alert to spice up the day
Super-spicy chile sauce sparked road closures and evacuations in central London after passersby complained that a chemical emanating from a Thai restaurant was burning their throats, police said.
Reports of a strong smell wafting from a restaurant in the heart of London’s bustling Soho district prompted the London Fire Brigade to send a chemical response team, a Metropolitan Police spokesman said.
Firefighters closed off roads, sealed buildings and donned special breathing masks to ferret out the source of the acrid smell as onlookers coughed, the Times of London reported.
Smashing down the door of the suspected source -- the Thai Cottage restaurant -- they seized the culprit: extra-hot bird’s-eye chiles that had been left dry-frying.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
