Salman Khan's surprise visit to a stall causes chaos at expo in Bandra

Salman Khan at the Expo

There was nothing Chori Chori Chupke Chupke about Salman Khan's visit to the Mumbai Marathon Expo at Bandra-Kurla Complex on Friday evening. Frenzied fans rushed to catch a glimpse of the Bollywood star who, accompanied by his brother Arbaaz, was paying a surprise visit to the Being Human stall at the expo. As people thronged the stall, the Asics stall came crashing down.

Utter chaos
A substantial number of people were at the expo at the MMRDA grounds, checking out stalls with fitness and wellness lifestyle products, and also collecting their bib numbers for the Mumbai marathon to be run on Sunday. Among the brands that had put up stalls were Being Human, Salman's charitable trust, and Asics, which makes top sports gear.

Suresh Rathod, who is to run the 42-km marathon on Sunday, said, "I was at the Asics stall, doing a gait test on the treadmill. I had just got off the treadmill and collected my racing bib, when I heard someone yell, 'Salman Khan is here, Salman Khan is here'. Within minutes, I heard a thud and saw the Asics store collapse."

The Asics stall caves in

He added, "There was chaos and people were trying to get pictures. I saw a wall with an array of t-shirts had fallen. The passages in the expo are narrow, so it was crowded and I wanted to get out, as there could have been a crisis. Soon, I heard someone ask, where is Salman, and others said he had left. Security came in and were trying to clear the rubble." "Runners could have been injured. Why ask celebrities to visit these expos?" questioned Rathod.

Runner Shibani Gulati, who was also at the expo, said, "People started running around and, at first, we thought it was a fire. Then I learnt that Salman Khan was there. I left the place immediately," she ended.

Dilip Jayaram, chief executive officer of Procam International, organisers of the Mumbai marathon, said, "Salman and Arbaaz decided to pay an impromptu visit to the Being Human stall. When the runners saw him, they thronged towards him for a picture. A wall caved in at the opposite stall. The situation was soon brought under control." The Expo began on January 16 and ends today.

Inputs by Harit Joshi

Catch up on all the latest Crime, National, International and Hatke news here. Also download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get latest updates