Hooters staff describe ‘dystopian’ scenes after Water Street horror
Bee Machado was one of the Hooters staff members on shift during the Water Street incident(Image: Colin Lane/Liverpool Echo)
On May 26, 2025, what began as a day of celebration for Liverpool FC supporters ended in tragedy when a car hit crowds of people following the club’s Premier League trophy parade. The incident occurred shortly after 6 pm on Water Street, near The Strand, where fans had gathered in large numbers.
As celebrations spilled into the city centre, a car hit a crowd, injuring 109 people. Emergency services confirmed that at least 50 individuals were taken to hospital, including four children.
In the midst of the chaos, staff at Hooters on Water Street kept their cool, coming to the aid of those affected.
Speaking to the ECHO, they recall what began as a busy but upbeat shift. “The day started brilliantly and everyone was really happy,” says Hooters bartender Bee Machado, who is originally from Brazil. She continued: “Everything was so perfect and going amazingly. We had loads of families coming and the atmosphere was friendly.
“It felt like the World Cup back in my country.”
Waitress Ellie Greer, 21, added: “We were really excited. We thought we were going to make a lot of money and it was just really happy vibes.
“It was very busy, probably one of the busiest days I’ve ever worked. I was on the front bar and there were so many people that I couldn’t even tell who was waiting first.”
At around 5.30pm, the LFC parade bus passed Water Street on its journey down The Strand. One Hooters waitress, who wished not to be named but who will be referred to as Lara in this article, described the restaurant going from “completely filled” to quiet as customers went outside.
Some of the staff also went outside to take photographs of the bus, Bee being one of them. She said: “When the bus came past, everyone had left the restaurant so my manager let me and my colleagues outside to take a picture. All the sky was red and it was an amazing sensation. It was a sensation of peace.”
After the coach had passed, the restaurant began to refill. About half an hour later, Bee and Ellie – who were both on the bar in the front of the venue – began to realise something was wrong. Bee recalled: “I remember speaking with a few customers and waiting for their payment when, suddenly, the front door just opened and loads of people started to run.
The incident happened right next to Hooters(Image: Colin Lane/Liverpool Echo)
“In the beginning, I thought they were fighting but loads and loads of people were coming in in one go. When the doors closed, there were loads of people screaming – they were desperate. I’ve never seen so many people running.”
Ellie said: “I was looking out the window to see what was going on, and I could see loads of people running down the road. I remember saying to Bee, who was on the bar with me, ‘I wonder what’s going on?’
“Our general manager started shouting to shut the doors and stop serving. People were banging on the windows – we were letting some people in because they were telling us their kids were in here and stuff.
“I realised something really bad had happened because loads of people were running to me asking for help and telling me someone had been really hurt.”
For staff serving customers in the back of Hooters, it took a little longer for them to realise the seriousness of the situation. Lara, who was there at the time, said: “Because it was so busy, I think most of the girls at the back of the restaurant were shielded from the moment. The two girls at the front bar, Bee and Ellie, saw more of it than we did.
“Loads more people were coming into the restaurant but I thought it was just because it was a busy day. I remember trying to get people in and I was trying to talk to the new customers – their eyes were red, they were so distraught and there was red smoke everywhere.
“People were crying. It was very dystopian. That’s when I realised something was going on.”
Head chef Corey Smith, 23, was in the kitchen at the time of the incident. He says that if he wasn’t working that day, he could have been one of the people on Water Street. He said: “There was loads of commotion at the front and the doors got closed. I thought we were just at maximum capacity. Someone told me that something had happened but no one really knew. Everyone was half panicking.
Hooters head chef Corey Smith(Image: Colin Lane/Liverpool Echo)
“Next minute, we were told to close and we closed the kitchen down. We started to hear what had actually happened but we handled it decently. We had to keep everyone calm. Being the head chef, if I’m panicking, everyone else is going to panic. We just had to stay focused.”
The restaurant sheltered many who’d witnessed the incident during its aftermath. 20-year-old waitress Georgia Jones explained that staff had to remain positive for those affected. She said: “A lot of the girls were sat down with people. A lot of us stayed visibly quite strong.
“It’s in our job role; we’ve got to stay happy and positive, so I think a lot of the girls did a really good job, for the sake of everyone else. There were customers having panic attacks and things like that so we couldn’t act visibly stressed.
“There was a lot of false gossip coming in about what had happened so we had to try to shut that down and reassure people.”
Lara added: “The rumours started coming in and it took us around 10 or 15 minutes to know exactly what was happening and shut down the bars, shut down the kitchen and really assess the situation.
“We were offering water to everybody – there were some people by themselves so some of the girls were giving them hugs.
“You could feel the despair in the air and feel how people were impacted by it. We felt like we had to support them more than just sheltering them. There were so many children crying so we were trying to distract them, offer people a smile and make sure everyone was taken care of, as best as we could.
“We were in here for quite a while. I think it was around 8.30pm when they let everybody out, and we were in here for about two hours after that. After the customers left, it was the first time we had a chance to actually process what had happened.
Emergency services on Water Street in Liverpool city centre after the incident(Image: Iain Watts)
She continued: “By the time I actually got home, it was about 11pm. I cried a lot. I called all of my friends, all my family and told them what had happened. I was so, so scared. I told them that if they are at home, it might be a good idea to stay inside. It’s one of those things where you have to talk to somebody.
“Something like this really messes with your sense of security.”
Bee says it took her until the day after the incident before the enormity of it hit her. She said: “I went shopping with my daughter and I saw a birthday card with the Liver Bird on it. At that point, my eyes could not stop crying, thinking about what had happened.”
Paul Doyle, 53, from Burghill Road in Liverpool, has been charged with seven offences after the incident and he will next appear in court on August 14.
He faces charges of wounding with intent, causing grievous bodily harm with intent, attempting to cause grievous bodily harm with intent and dangerous driving.