BBC man in laughing fit as drugs burn

A Jerusalem-based BBC journalist could not keep it together while reporting near a pile of burning narcotics, repeatedly collapsing into laughing fits as he tried to get through his piece-to-camera.

Quentin Sommerville, the BBC’s Middle East correspondent, seemed to be affected by the burning drugs as he tried to deliver his lines, as seen in a video he posted online Monday.

“Burning behind me is eight-and-a-half tons of heroin, opium, hashish and other narcotics,” he tries to say in several takes, before descending into fits of laughter.

On the third try, he can be heard urging his cameraman “Quick, quick! We just need one more,” but seems incapable of completing the lines.

Sommerville posted the clip on Monday, originally entitled ‘Don’t Inhale,’ tweeting to his followers: “Dear tweeps, it’s been a year of bullets & bloodshed. You’ve earned a xmas laugh, at my expense.” He later deleted the clip but copies were available online.

It is unclear where the report is from but the BBC made clear it was filmed four years ago.

“The video of Quentin corpsing [as it is known in the industry], which has now been deleted, was posted in the spirit of a blooper. It was filmed four years ago – it hasn’t been seen before and was never broadcast.”

Sommerville has reported from Gaza, Afghanistan, Egypt and Iraq.