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*A seasonal maintenance worker helping to open a Wal-Mart store on Black Friday was trampled to death when the impatient crowd of more than 2,000 broke through the glass doors and rushed inside.
Jdimytai Damour of Jamaica, Queens, was pushed to the ground by the stampede just before 5 a.m. as management was preparing to open the store. Hundreds stepped over, around and on top of the 34-year-old worker as they rushed to take advantage of store bargains.
"Nobody was trying to help him," shopper Nakea Augustine, who was in the line, told Newsday.com. "They were rushing in the store, rushing, rushing, rushing."
The incident began when people who had gathered well before 5 a.m. in the rear of the line began pushing forward – crushing the people in the front into the sliding supermarket-type doors, which were literally knocked off their hinges.
According to witnesses, the melee began right after a Wal-Mart employee told the crowd the store would open early, then said it was a joke. This angered the folks in line, and lead to people rushing the store.
Damour was pronounced dead just after 6 a.m. at Franklin Hospital Medical Center in Valley Stream, police said. At least three other shoppers also suffered minor injuries. Another shopper, 28, who is eight months pregnant, was hospitalized for observation and was doing well.
Authorities said Damour was working at the store through an employment agency that contracts with the retail giant. For a photo of the crowd storming into the store, click here.
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