An envelope leaking a strange pinkish powder sparked an alert in a Paris suburban post office this week, but tests revealed the substance to be nothing more than desiccated elephant dung, police said on Thursday.
With France on high terrorism alert following the London bombings last month, postal workers in a sorting centre in the north-western suburb of Bonneuil-en-France took no chance when they noticed the strange envelope from Sri Lanka with the powder inside.
After police were called in, six employees who had been exposed to the powder were subjected to medical examinations.
The powder was analysed too, and was eventually found to contain the elephant excrement.
Police said the envelope was addressed to a Paris-based immigrant from Sri Lanka who apparently used the pachydermal poo for traditional religious rites. — AFP