How the bar fight started that left an American dead in Greece

An American college grad and a pal put their drinks down on the wrong table — triggering a savage beatdown that ended in the young man’s death, according to published reports.

Bakari Henderson, a 22-year-old who just graduated from the University of Arizona, was beaten to death outside a bar on the Greek island of Zakynthos on Friday.

A friend, who was with Henderson in Greece, told CBS News that the victim and another pal sat their drinks down on a table of strangers, triggering an angry reaction from two attackers.

The two men grabbed the beers, smashed them on the table, and brandished the broken bottles as weapons, according to the friend.

The fight ended up outside with thugs beating Henderson even after he was down and unconscious.

That friend’s account to CBS lines up with Athens newspaper Kathimerini, which cites police reports that a “petty dispute over someone setting their drink down on a table occupied by a different group.”

Zante Press 24 and other Greek media reports said the fatal attack was somehow sparked by Henderson and his pals asking a waitress to take a selfie with them.

But Henderson’s pal told CBS there was no such selfie involved in the fatal brawl.

Eight men have been arrested. The suspects include a bouncer, an employee and other tourists.

“I couldn’t believe it,” Henderson’s friend Astrid Von Ehren-McCray told CBS. “And I’m trying to compose myself, but I couldn’t believe it.”

Henderson grew up in Austin, Texas, and graduated from UofA with a degree in business.