A strong accent by an informant misled firefighters to a different place and delayed a mission by minutes in Xiamen city on Sunday, Strait News reported.

The informant lisped the “fu” sound into a “hu” sound, claiming that the accident site was No 168 Xihu Road, Xike town, while it was actually on Xifu Road. At the accident, a refrigerator house at a food factory caught fire.

The message then mistakenly led police to Xihu village which, fortunately, was only about 3 kilometers away from the real fire on Xifu Road.

Firefighters then removed 10 cylinders filled with flammable gas before putting out the fire at the food factory. No one was injured, and the cause of the fire is being investigated.

The strong accent of Fujian people, particularly because they usually mix the f and h initials in their dialect, won nationwide attention after it was joked about in a sketch for the past Spring Festival Gala, which has an estimated audience of nearly 700 million.

A fire at a food factory is put out in Xike town, Xiamen city, Fujian province, on March 22.