Australian Aborigines have been to the Royal Albert Museum in London to recover four skulls taken by explorers 140 years ago. As they carried out a ceremony over the remains, the incense set off the smoke alarm leading to the evacuation of the museum.

As the Telegraph newspaper reports, Major Moogie Sumner, a principal of the Ngarrindjeri people from South Australia, had invited local dignitaries to the ritual.

However, during the ceremony, a smoke alarm was triggered by the incense burning and both the Aborigines and the dignitaries received a soaking.

The 19th-century remains kept in the museum have never been put on display to the public. The Ngarrindjeri have been trying to get the skulls back for more than 14 years – now the efforts have finally been rewarded.

The Ngarrindjeri people come from the Lower Murray River and Coorong areas near the city of Adelaide in South Australia.

Major Sumner said his ritual dance and the incense burning were aimed to atone for the Royal Albert Museum's keeping the sacred bones far from their native land for so long.

Aborigines believe their forefathers cannot rest in peace until they’re buried in their homeland.

In response to their claims, British law has been modified in order to let the museum return the remains, which are thought to be more than 1,000 years old.