The worker's family should sue the hell out of Wal-Mart. It seems to me that these stores WANT a mass of people pounding at the door so that the moment they open they'll have great video for the evening news of people just swarming into the store. They know people get trampled, we see videos every year of people getting trampled. But they continue to do these cute stunts. This guy didn't have a chance. And while it's initially tempting, I don't necessarily blame the people in line. Anyone who has ever been in a hideously packed line knows what it's like when people behind you start pushing, you can push back against one person but you can't really push back against 25 or 50 or 500 people - it's a bit like trying to stop a river. Seems to me that Wal-Mart, and every other store, knows the potential for trampling. I'd like to know what they did to prevent this from happening.
From the NY Daily News:
A Wal-Mart worker died after being trampled when hundreds of shoppers smashed through the doors of a Long Island store Friday morning, police and witnesses said.
The 34-year-old employee, a temporary maintenance worker, tried to hold back the unruly crowds just after the Valley Stream store opened at 5 a.m.
Witnesses said the surging throngs of shoppers knocked the man down. He fell and was stepped on. As he gasped for air, shoppers ran over and around him.
"He was bum-rushed by 200 people," said Jimmy Overby, 43, a co-worker. "They took the doors off the hinges. He was trampled and killed in front of me. They took me down too...I literally had to fight people off my back."
