“家乐福”发生踩踏事故 限时抢购被叫停

A man loads goods from a cart to his bicycle after shopping at a Carrefour hypermarket in Beijing, September 17, 2007. [Agencies]

China has banned time-limited sales promotions in retail outlets following a stampede at a Carrefour supermarket in southwestern Chongqing Municipality that killed three and injured 31 on Saturday, according to a government circular.

The Ministry of Commerce ordered local authorities across China to overhaul safety requirements in shops to prevent similar occurences, said a statement dated Monday on its website.

"In order to eliminate safety concerns, companies are required not to organise time-limited sales promotions which may lead to traffic congestion, bodily harm and disorderly conduct," it said.

In the Saturday stampede, victims were crushed as bargain-hunters rushed to get into the French supermarket for a tenth anniversary sale.

''I rushed to the oil shelf with other people and grabbed four bottles,'' the official China Daily quoted one shopper as saying.

Some people had begun to queue at 4 am (local time) for the five-litre oil bottles, which had been discounted by 11.5 yuan from their usual price of 51.4 yuan.

The stampede injured 31 people who were ''recovering well'', the paper said.

Local officials have closed the store and began an investigation.

上周六，重庆一家“家乐福超市”发生踩踏事故，造成3人死亡，31人受伤。这一事故发生后，有关部门立即下发通知，禁止各零售企业开展限时促销活动。

商务部于本周一在其网站上发布通知，要求各地相关部门对本地区零售企业的安全防范措施进行全面检查，以防止此类事件再度发生。

《通知》要求，“各零售企业不得组织容易造成交通拥堵、人身伤害和秩序混乱的限时促销活动，以消除安全隐患。”

上周六，重庆“家乐福”超市开展十周年店庆促销活动，排队抢购的顾客蜂拥而入，造成了踩踏事故的发生。

《中国日报》援引一位顾客的话说：“我与四个人一起冲向食用油货架，抢到了四桶。”

在该家乐福超市的此次促销活动中，原价每桶51.4元的5升装食用油只卖39.9元。为了买到特价油，有些人从凌晨四点就开始排队。

据《中国日报》称，在此次踩踏事故中受伤的31人目前“恢复状况良好”。

该家乐福超市现已停业，当地相关部门已开始进行事故调查。