Opposite Neighbour Mistakes ‘2020’ Balloons As SOS Distress Signal, Calls Police Right Away

‘2020’ Balloons Mistaken As SOS Distress Call In Guiyang, China

Who would’ve guessed the kind of trouble balloons representing ‘2020’ could give if looked at from the other side?

In Guiyang, China, one neighbour was startled when she saw that a flat across hers had put up an ‘SOS’ at the window. This was reported on 31 Dec by Malaysian Chinese daily China Press.

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The neighbour immediately phoned the police thinking that her neighbour was in distress.

Little did she know that they were merely celebratory balloons with an unfortunately deflated 0 at the end.

Police investigated the house, but all was well

The police knocked at the door and asked the lady owner if there was a problem. Reasonably baffled, the lady told the officers that neither she nor her family needed any assistance.

But as a precaution, the officers requested to enter the house and have a look for themselves if anything was amiss.

It was then that they saw the ‘SOS’ balloons. Seen from the right way – that is, from inside the house – it really showed 2020 instead, only the last 0 was missing.

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The lady owner, a kindergarten teacher, explained that the last 0 because it had leaked air and deflated.

Lady told to remove balloons lest it caused panic

Eventually, the lady had to remove the balloons anyway. The officers told her that they could easily alarm another neighbour or passerby.

Indeed, a scenario of someone being held captive in a flat and wanting to be rescued by flashing messages is not unimaginable.

So while her neighbour did give her and the police officers some trouble, it was the responsible thing to do. It is always better to err on the side of caution than err on the side of fatal negligence.

Featured images adapted from China Press.