Diners scream as monitor lizard strolls through restaurant in Malaysia
This is the terrifying moment a huge monitor lizard panics diners as it strolls through a packed food court at lunchtime.
The venomous, metre-long lizard was caught on camera as it scattered spooked customers at the beachside venue in Padang Kota, in Penang, in Malaysia, on May 31.
In trembling handheld phone footage, diners are seen shrieking in terror as they leap up on tables and benches while the lizard struts through the eateries.
Others leap out of its way until one restaurant worker manages to encourage it back towards the beach as the clip ends.
The lizard is understood to have been an Asian water monitor, only second in size to the fearsome Komodo dragon.
Adults can grow to up to 7ft, weighing more than 40lbs, and with serrated teeth that experts say can cause "severe injuries".
Poison glands in their lower jaws can flood prey with anticoagulants that cause them to bleed to death and neurotoxins to stun them.
Four years ago, police in Delaware, USA, found reptile fan Ronald Huff dead and partially eaten by his four Nile monitors, close relatives of the Asian monitor lizards.
It was unknown if they killed him and ate him or simply tucked into his corpse after he died of natural causes.
But the screaming diners were mocked by social media users.
One X user, 'SilencerMuto', scorned: "It’s just a monitor lizard. Let it be. It will walk where it wants to."
Story: NewsX