(Xinhua)
Updated: 2007-11-12 06:42

CHONGQING -- One person has gone out of critical condition and all the other injured from a stampede in a Carrefour outlet in southwest China have been recovering well, officials said Sunday.

Three have been discharged from hospital after medical treatment,according to an official of the Shapingba district government of Chongqing Municipality.

The stampede happened early Saturday morning when the Carrefour outlet in Shapingba was having a sales promotion activity. Throngs of people stormed into its entrance when the shop started business, leading to a stampede.

Three people were killed and 31 others were injured in the accident.

The outlet has suspended business as ordered and is being investigated. The shop will not be reopened until the whole investigation into the stampede is over and improvement measures taken, according to the official.

Carrefour's representative in China arrived in Chongqing Sunday to cooperate with the local government in investigation into the accident and compensation to the victims.

A three-day promotion at the outlet in the Shapingba District was launched Friday to celebrate the 10th anniversary of Carrefour's presence in the city.

People began queuing at the entrance around 4:00 a.m. Saturday, waiting to buy a cooking oil product offered at a big discount, said Gao Chang, spokesman for the government of Shapingba District.

The shop offered a deduction of 11.5 yuan (1.5 US dollars) from the original price of 51.4 yuan (6.9 US dollars) for a bottle of five-liter oil.

At around 8:40 a.m. when the shop started its business, throngs of people burst in and a mass stampede occurred.

He Yu, one of the shoppers combating for the cooking oil, got his face and hands bruised in the stampede.

"I rushed to the oil shelf with other people and grabbed four bottles. Suddenly I was tripped over on the floor. Luckily I got hold of another person and escaped from being crashed," the young man said.

The Shapingba outlet, covering a business area of 7,000 square meters, was opened in May last year. It is the fourth Carrefour outlet in Chongqing, and the 75th in China.