A trail of putrid-smelling liquid spewed on streets from Oak Bay Avenue to around Cook and Bay on Thursday prompted complaints about “the worst kind of stink imaginable” on social media.
People took to Facebook to warn others to avoid the area, especially if they were driving.
“Once you get it on your car tires the smell will be with you all day long,” one person wrote.
Another said that Oak Bay smelled like “the inside of a garbage truck.”
People complained the smell made them gag and their eyes water. Spoiled dairy and rotting road kill were some of the guesses for the smell’s origin.
It turned out the foul liquid was leaking out of a compost vehicle.
The City of Victoria said it responded to a call of a foul smell on Bay Street near Shelbourne Street around 8:45 a.m.
Staff tracked the liquid starting at Oak Bay Avenue, north on Richmond and west on Bay, where it ended near Cook Street.
City crews have washed the streets where the smelly liquid leaked, the city said.
