The head of security and his assistant at a Carrefour store in the Shapingba district of Chongqing municipality will stand trial for their roles in a "stampede" at the retail outlet in November that led to the deaths of three shoppers, prosecutors said on Friday.

The Shapingba procuratorate submitted its case on Thursday and it was accepted, an official surnamed Li from the district court said.

Xiang Xuexin, the store's security manager, and Duan Chengwei, his assistant, are accused of negligence during a sales promotion held to mark the store's 10th anniversary.

On Nov 10, three people were killed and 24 were injured, seven of them seriously, when huge crowds descended on the store to buy cut-price cooking oil.

Gao Chang, a spokesman for the Shapingba district government, said people began queuing at the store at about 4 am on Nov 10, as the shop was offering five-liter bottles of cooking oil for 11.5 yuan ($1.70) less than the usual price of 51.4 yuan.

Anticipating keen interest, the store had drawn up a plan to handle the large crowds, which included making sure all entrances to the store remained open and clear of obstructions, Gao said.

Prosecutors said Duan ignored the plan and on Nov 10, placed tables at the eastern, central and western entrances to slow people's access into the store. Xiang conducted a routine safety check at about 7 am on Nov 10, and although he saw a table blocking the eastern entrance, he failed to ask for its removal, prosecutors said.

When the store opened at about 8:20 am, scores of customers rushed inside via the eastern entrance. However, the tables near the door created a bottleneck and some people fell to the floor and were trampled, prosecutors said.

Cai Yiming, a 65-year-old man, and two women, Sun Zhuo, 51, and Yang Suoxiu, 42, were killed in the stampede.

Yang's family claimed compensation of 2.23 million yuan from Carrefour and was paid 350,000 yuan. Sun's family received a similar amount, while Cai's family has yet to reach an agreement with the store, the Chengdu Economic Daily reported recently.

(China Daily July 12, 2008)