“家樂福”發生踩踏事故 限時搶購被叫停

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 officialshave closed the store and began an investigation.

上週六，重慶一家“家樂福超市”發生踩踏事故，造成3人死亡，31人受傷。這一事故發生後，有關部門立即下發通知，禁止各零售企業開展限時促銷活動。

商務部於本週一在其網站上發佈通知，要求各地相關部門對本地區零售企業的安全防範措施進行全面檢查，以防止此類事件再度發生。

《通知》要求，“各零售企業不得組織容易造成交通擁堵、人身傷害和秩序混亂的限時促銷活動，以消除安全隱患。”

上週六，重慶“家樂福”超市開展十週年店慶促銷活動，排隊搶購的顧客蜂擁而入，造成了踩踏事故的發生。

《中國日報》援引一位顧客的話說：“我與四個人一起衝向食用油貨架，搶到了四桶。”

在該家樂福超市的此次促銷活動中，原價每桶51.4元的5升裝食用油只賣39.9元。爲了買到特價油，有些人從凌晨四點就開始排隊。

據《中國日報》稱，在此次踩踏事故中受傷的31人目前“恢復狀況良好”。

該家樂福超市現已停業，當地相關部門已開始進行事故調查。