20.08.2026 00:00
A metro ride in Nanjing, China, suddenly turned into a lively scene when live rice-field eels spilled from overturned buckets and scattered throughout the train car. Passengers, who initially mistook them for snakes and experienced a brief moment of panic, sprang into action once they realized the situation, gathering the escaping eels by hand and refilling the buckets.
A metro ride in Nanjing, China, turned into a moment of panic due to numerous snake-like creatures spreading across the carriage. On Metro Line 2, overturned plastic buckets caused live ricefield eels to scatter across the carriage. While some passengers, instead of fleeing, mobilized to catch the escaping animals, the incident quickly went viral on social media.
BUCKETS OVERTURNED, THE CARRIAGE SUDDENLY STIRRED
The incident occurred on August 17 on Nanjing Metro Line 2. When the plastic buckets containing live eels overturned, the animals spread across the carriage floor.
The eels, suddenly scurrying in different directions, slipped under seats and into various parts of the carriage amid the bewildered gazes of passengers. Some passengers recorded the moments with their phones.
PASSENGERS MOBILIZED TO CATCH THE ANIMALS
Noticing the fleeing animals, some passengers tried to catch them with their hands and put them back into the bucket. However, holding the extremely slippery eels was not easy.
As some escaped into gaps under the seats, the passengers' catching efforts became even more difficult. In the footage, some people in the carriage can be seen bending down to collect the animals.
THEY THOUGHT THEY WERE SNAKES, THE TRUTH WAS DIFFERENT
As the incident spread on social media, some viewers of the footage initially mistook the creatures moving around the carriage for snakes. But soon it became clear they were not snakes but ricefield eels.
It was reported that after the animals were put back into the buckets, the carriage was cleaned. Thus, an ordinary metro ride turned into an extraordinary chase that passengers would not forget for a long time.