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By no means do I mean to belittle what happened to the WalMart? employee trampled to death Friday, but I have to comment.

Tramplings seem to happen very often, at concerts, in terrorist attacks like the one on Hadj Pilgrims some years ago, in stores, etc. A majority of the blame falls on humans, for being poor herd animals. However, I place a lot of this blame on those who supervise these events. To me, the key similarity of all these tramplings is that somebody, somewhere, forgot what can happen when that many people must pass through the same location.

The location must be wide enough for a large group to pass, without bottlenecks. The cue cannot be so long that the rear has no idea what is happening in the front. If those in the back cannot know what is going on in front, the push to move forward cannot be stopped. There must be a way to allow side escapes should the way forward be blocked. The rear must be informed of what is ahead. People must be placed along the cue to maintain composure. Probably the biggest factor, is don't let a throng form for a timed event. A throng may increase appetites, it may make for good advertising, but it is an invitation to disaster.

When a crown forms, all in competition for a limited prize, competition results. Competition and mass movement are a lethal combination.

The shoppers at the WalMart? have blame, yes. The WalMart? itself has the most blame in my opinion. For allowing a large crowd to form, for not controlling access to the doors, for not keeping the crowd moving in an orderly fashion, for not regulating the flow of traffic, for a host of errors which they should have foreseen, but did not.