◎羅彥傑

Fears of a chemical attack on a busy Central London street which led police to evacuate the entire area was reportedly caused by a pot of burning chillies.

一鍋正在燒煮的辣椒，據報導引發了倫敦中區一條街道陷入遭受化武攻擊的恐懼，導致警方疏散全區。

Police closed off three roads and evacuated homes in central London as a cloud of noxious smoke filled the air.

警方封鎖三條道路與疏散倫敦中區的住戶，因為一團有毒煙霧充斥空氣中。

But the source turned out to be some fiery food left cooking on a restaurant stove.

但結果是，這團毒煙來自某家餐廳火爐上正在烹煮的嗆辣食物。

Firefighters wearing protective breathing apparatus were called to D’Arblay Street in Soho as members of the public were shepherded away.

穿著防護呼吸裝置的消防隊員接獲報案後，來到蘇活區達布雷街，此時民眾都被帶離現場。

The specialist crews then broke down the door of the Thai Cottage restaurant. They emerged around 7pm with a 9lb pot of chillies.

消防隊員隨後在「泰國茅舍」餐廳破門而入。他們在晚間7時左右帶了一鍋9磅重的辣椒出來。

Staff at the restaurant said they were surprised by the reaction of the emergency services. Chef Chalemchai Tangjariyapoon told The Times： ’I was making a spicy dip with extra-hot chillies that are deliberately burnt. To us it smells like burnt chilli and it is slightly unusual.’

餐廳工作人員說，他們對消防人員的反應感到很訝異。廚師恰列姆柴．譚加利亞彭告訴泰晤士報：「我正在做一杓配上超辣辣椒的辣湯，而且刻意用旺火燒。對我們來說，這味道就像是燒過的辣椒，而且不算很特別。」

新聞辭典

close off：片語，封鎖、隔絕。例句：The US government will never close off the border to illegal immigration.（美國政府絕不會對非法移民封鎖邊界。）

noxious：形容詞，有毒的。例句：Fumes from the exhaust of a car are noxious.（汽車排放的廢氣是有毒的。）

shepherd：動詞，帶領。例句：She shepherded the children onto the train.（她帶孩子們上火車。）