Dubai: The cast of a Bollywood film attending the world premiere of their movie got a rude shock on Wednesday night in Abu Dhabi’s Marina Mall as the crowd that had come to see them went out of control.
Katrina Kaif, Imran Khan and Ali Zafar, in town to promote ‘Mere Brother Ki Dulhan’ (My Brother’s Wife) had to be rushed to safety as the surging number of fans quickly led to pandemonium following their entry into the mall. The 50-metre long security barricade seemed inadequate as women and children were being jostled around.
The situation quickly got out of hand as desperate screams were heard. Crying mothers were looking for their children and people were being trampled on.
Realising the situation could become dire, the stars, pushed to a corner near the cinema and surrounded by bodyguards, had to plead to the crowd to calm down.
“Someone is going to get hurt,” shouted Khan into the microphone. “We are here for all of you. Please do not hurt anyone.”
A visibly shaken Kaif, undoubtedly the main attraction of the evening, muttered: “I love you Abu Dhabi. Please watch the movie,” before she and the other stars were rushed into the safety of the cinema for the premiere.
Only then did things begin to quiet down.
Video: Katrina Kaif causes a stampede in Abu Dhabi.
Rema Khan, a fan, said later that she feared for her life. “I couldn’t see any of the stars. We were just pushed back,” she told tabloid.
Anushka, an 11-year-old girl, was jostled around in the confusion before her mother pulled her out to a safe place. “It was so dangerous. She could have got badly hurt,” said the mother.
Rakhi Gupta, who came with her five-year-old daughter said many people didn’t seem to care there were also children.
“It was so badly organised. How can they not have people to control all this?” she asked.
Gia Perreira, who has been trailing the stars the whole day as they promoted the movie around the city, said organisers surely had not anticipated such a reception.
“This is the first time Abu Dhabi is witnessing something like this since normally every thing happens in Dubai,” she said.
Meanwhile, the organisers admitted that they had not expected such a huge crowd.
“This is the first time that such a premiere which is open to the public is happening in Abu Dhabi. In the past like My Name Is Khan premiere there it happened at a posh hotel – so entry could be restricted and controlled for invites only. We wanted the public to have access to stars, but it got out of hand since we didn’t anticipate so many people,” said Nelson D’Souza, Head Of Operations of Yash Raj Films Middle East & North Africa.
He added that they had more than 40 security guards stationed to control the crowd and that the stars were ushered through the back exit, after their public appearance.
