The pungent smell of roasting chillies in an apartment building sent four people in the Finnish city of Espoo to the hospital on Monday with respiratory problems.

"Rescue workers had to use gas masks to get up to the top floors where the smell was coming from," rescue services spokesman Mika Maekelae told AFP, saying the smokeless odour was akin to pepper spray.

The first rescue worker who entered the building had a bad coughing fit and trouble breathing, he added.

Inside the apartment, rescue workers found an oven full of burnt whole chillies, which the occupant had forgotten.

The occupant and her child escaped the fumes onto their balcony, and did not need medical attention.

The four people taken to the hospital were not seriously injured by the chilli fumes, according to the rescue services.

- AFP