Guests attending a wedding banquet in China were left stunned after thick smoke suddenly filled the venue, with many initially mistaking it for a special dry ice stage effect before realising the hotel was allegedly on fire.
The bizarre incident reportedly happened on May 24 at the Jinhe Hotel in Panjin, Liaoning province, during a wedding reception hosted by a groom known online as “重走来时路”.
Videos shared by the groom showed the couple interacting with guests on stage when white smoke unexpectedly began spreading across the hall.
Believing it was part of the wedding’s special effects setup, many guests continued clapping and cheering enthusiastically, thinking the smoke was intended to create a romantic atmosphere.
However, panic soon followed as the smoke became increasingly thick and difficult to breathe.
Some guests reportedly began coughing heavily, experiencing eye irritation and later discovered their nostrils were filled with black soot, prompting fears that the smoke was not from dry ice but from an actual fire.
Guests then started preparing to evacuate the venue.
The groom later expressed frustration that hotel staff allegedly failed to inform guests about the situation or organise any evacuation despite the worsening conditions.
“When I asked the hotel staff what happened, nobody explained where the smoke came from,” he claimed online.
According to the groom, the hotel later allegedly told him the smoke was caused by excessive cooking fumes from the kitchen, an explanation he strongly rejected.
“Our nostrils were full of black soot. That explanation clearly doesn’t make sense,” he said.
He added that the wedding ceremony was forced to stop just two minutes after it began.
The groom also claimed the hotel later agreed to waive charges for the wedding banquet food but refused compensation for other losses linked to the disrupted ceremony.
However, a hotel staff member reportedly denied any fire had occurred at the premises and accused online users of spreading false rumours.
The employee refused to disclose the actual cause of the smoke.
Meanwhile, officials from the local fire department stated they did not receive any emergency fire reports from the hotel on the day of the incident.
The strange incident quickly went viral online, with many netizens shocked that guests continued celebrating despite thick smoke rapidly filling the wedding hall.
