Melbourne, July 5 : A British Airways jet had to make an emergency after frightened passengers thought they smelled poison gas, which later turned out to be the smell coming from a broken container of curry spices.

The flight from Belgrade to London had to land as travellers thought they were under attack from terrorists.

But an official investigation revealed the fumes had escaped from a giant container of curry spices in the cargo hold.

"The smell spread from the package of an aromatic food spice," The Daily Telegraph quoted the Serbian Ministry for the Protection of Human Environment, as saying.

"The chemical that was found in the cargo hold of the airplane did not leak out. It was sodium-selenite. But the smell did not spread from there,” the Ministry added.

Dozens of passengers were helped off the plane by crews wearing oxygen masks before the source of the smell was discovered. (ANI)