Superstore stampede kills shoppers*

    * Story Highlights
    * Three people trampled to death in stampede at superstore in China
    * Shoppers were trying to get discounted goods at shop in Chongqing
    * Reports said people had lined up for a day outside Carrefour store

BEIJING, China (AP) -- Shoppers eager to buy goods on sale stampeded at
a Carrefour supermarket in southwestern China on Saturday, trampling
three people to death and injuring at least 31, state media reported.

Shoppers slipped as they rushed through a door at the Carrefour in
Chongqing city at 8:30 a.m. to snap up sale items, and those that fell
were then crushed by other shoppers, the Web sites of the Xinhua News
Agency and People's Daily reported.

The People's Daily said the shoppers had lined up outside the store
since 4 a.m. to buy discounted rapeseed oil used for cooking.

In addition to the three dead, Xinhua said that seven among the 31
injured were seriously hurt. Police in Chongqing said they had heard
about the accident but declined to independently confirm the media accounts.

Telephone calls to French-based Carrefour SA's China headquarters in
Shanghai rang unanswered