The moment a stampede of panicked patrons fled a bar in northern Brazil was caught on restaurant security cameras, but all is not as it seems.
Patrons of the Cervejaria Alphaiate bar and restaurant were enjoying their meal Saturday night around 9:00 pm outside when they got scared and were forced to flee from their tables by a group of people running directly towards them.
Brewery patrons quickly got up from their seats after noticing the group headed their way and began running in the other direction, overturning tables and chairs.
The restaurant’s waiter can also be seen in the footage looking confused and eventually taking off after the stampede of diners, allegedly because the group was supposed to be thieves trying to rob the restaurant.
The CCTV video was uploaded to WhatsApp and then Twitter on Wednesday and quickly went viral with more than 3.3 million people watching the original video.
In the video, a woman can be seen first running down the path past the restaurant’s outdoor seating, followed by a man with a dog who caused another woman to get up from their table and urged those seated with her to to get up and go too.
Once the woman and her friends fled the table, the rest of the guests at the bar quickly followed in fear, dragging others with them, some leaving their belongings behind, and within seconds the restaurant was nearly empty.
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The restaurant waiter can also be seen running after being confused by the situation when the last of the customers turn and trip over their chairs on their way out.
A dedicated guest of the bar can be seen falling off his chair and into the gutter next to a car in a hurry, but refusing to drop or drop his beer in panic.
In the final seconds of the video, a group of five men who appear to be wearing hats and workout clothes run past the scene.
It has since been revealed that the group approaching the restaurant and scaring customers was said to be a CrossFit exercise group, not thieves trying to rob customers and the bar.
“Then they said it was CrossFit,” said Dr. Amyr Kelner, who was reportedly in the restaurant at the time, according to local media.
“It was very fast. People came slowly, then when they got close to our table they started running. I told my friend to call and hold her bag. She got up, and at that moment, someone yelled that it was a robbery. That’s when I got up, shouted that I was a thief too and ran away, ”she told local outlet G1.
“After a few minutes, we saw that nothing was happening. They all started laughing and went back to the tables as if nothing had happened.
“When I got up, I put my cell phone and wallet in my pocket. There were people who thought he was drawing a gun. It is something to live in a city as insecure as ours.
“Thank God, I have never been robbed, nor have I been through anything like that, but you are in an extremely dangerous city and you see three people running towards you.”
In a statement provided to local media, the restaurant said the mix-up was “nothing more than a misunderstanding.”
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