Neighbor’s ‘2020’ Balloons Get Mistaken For Cry For Help, Police Get Called In
Image via Shutterstock
A missing balloon from a sequence writing out “2020” at a window raised alarm bells for a neighbor watching from the apartment block across.
Police of Southwest China’s Guizhou Province of Guiyang were then alerted to the scene, only to find out that the décor’s last balloon had burst and left the message to read “SOS” when observed from the outside.
As the numerals were flipped backwards, it was an easy mistake for onlookers to think it was a signal of distress.
The resident who put up the balloons explained to the police, “The balloon shaped like a zero was broken so we could only put up the numbers ‘202.’”
Footage of the display later made its rounds on Chinese social network Sina Weibo, amassing almost 10 million views as of 1 January 2020.
While it was an amusing incident, internet users said the neighbor “did the right thing” by calling the police, as it could have indeed been an emergency.
The resident has since taken down the remaining three balloons and expressed her thanks to her neighbor and the local authorities for their immediate attention.
Neighbour in China mistakes ‘2020’ balloons as SOS signal after last balloon deflates, calls the police https://t.co/ho3ulyOJep pic.twitter.com/mCtUrVpWO2
— Mothership.sg (@MothershipSG) January 2, 2020
[via Global Times, images via various sources]
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