Video: Diners Flee Brazil Restaurant As CrossFit Runners Mistaken For Robbers

A group of diners in Brazil confused some runners with robbers who were being chased by the police and fled a bar, causing stampede, according to a report in news.com.au. A CCTV clip of the incident, which took place in the Brazilian state of Recife on Saturday, has gone viral on social media platforms like Twitter. The video has amassed nearly nine million views and led to a huge discussion online. The management at the Cervejaria Alphaiate bar and restaurant called the incident a simple case of "misunderstanding".

Watch the video:

A group of people doing CrossFit ran passed a restaurant

Dozens of diners thought they were escaping from something and abandoned their tables to run off too. This happened in Brazil 1/🧵pic.twitter.com/7lmpt2zHY7

— Science girl (@gunsnrosesgirl3) September 25, 2022

Customers at the restaurant were spread out across the sidewalk tables, enjoying their meals, when a woman and two members of a local CrossFit gym crossed them, according to news.com.au. As seen in the video, the woman was looking back at the other members, including a man with a dog on a leash, asking them to follow her steps.

One of the diners, a woman, appeared to sense that she was in harm's way and immediately grabbed her purse and started running. A man who was seated with her followed her, according to the video.

Within seconds, rest of the diners abandoned their tables and ran away. One of them even stumbled out of his chair and fell on the pavement as more runners passed by.

The panicked customers even left their belongings behind, according to news.co.au. A waiter at the restaurant also looks confused and takes off after the diners, the outlet further said.

"It was very fast. People were coming 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 shouted that it was a robbery. That's when I got up, shouted that it was also a robber and ran away," doctor Amyr Kelner, who was reportedly at the restaurant at the time, local media source G1, as reported by news.com.au.

In a statement provided to local media, the restaurant said the confusion was "nothing more than a misunderstanding".