Lunch at a seafood restaurant in Fuzhou, China, took a hard left from “fresh catch” to “indoor aquarium” after a giant fish tank exploded mid-service, drenching diners and sending live fish skidding through the dining room.
Security footage captured the moment it all went south. In the video, a worker points toward the bottom of the tank, bends in for a closer look, and seconds later, the entire thing bursts open. A wall of water rushes across the floor, knocking chairs aside while dozens of fish surf their way toward freedom. Diners scream, servers freeze, and, of course, a few people had to bust out their phones because “did it really happen if it wasn’t filmed?”
According to The New York Post, the restaurant had just installed the tank when it gave out. One witness described the moment as “a mini tsunami,” and the footage backs it up. Water pours in like a floodgate opened, leaving customers scrambling onto chairs while waiters try to catch slippery fish with their hands.
Fish Tank Explosion at Chinese Restaurant Sends Dozens of Fish Swimming Through Dining Room
Online, the spectacle has become a viral buffet of fish jokes. “At least the ingredients are fresh,” one user wrote on Weibo. Another added, “The service here swims right over to you.” Even the local press couldn’t resist the irony—a seafood restaurant, drowned by its own décor.
The restaurant’s owner told reporters everyone’s meals were comped. “We were thankful no one was hurt,” he said, as staff mopped up the wreckage and scooped surviving fish into buckets. The cause of the burst is still unclear, though reports suggest the tank may have been newly fitted and poorly sealed.
By evening, the restaurant had unintentionally achieved viral sainthood. Clips of the watery disaster flooded social media platforms, turning an average lunch hour into global entertainment. Some viewers called it divine retribution for ordering seafood hot pot. Others simply said they’d never seen fresher sashimi.
What’s left of the tank now sits cracked and empty, a monument to hubris and humidity. For diners, it was a meal they’ll be talking about for years. For the fish, it was a fleeting taste of freedom.
The post A Fish Tank Exploded at a Chinese Restaurant—and the Footage Is Kind of Hilarious appeared first on VICE.
