Note to shoppers in London: GET A LIFE.
From time to time The Moderate Voice hands out highly coveted memberships to its Get A Life Club for fellow humans displaying a degree of silliness, political correctness or pettiness that puts us in awe. Today we induct some more members, namely these shoppers who gave a new meaning to the phrase “shop till you drop”:
Five people are in hospital today after hundreds were crushed as the opening of England’s biggest Ikea store turned into a riot.
Nine ambulances were sent to the outlet in north London after reports that up to 20 people had suffered heat exhaustion when the opening at midnight descended into chaos. Staff closed the doors after half an hour amid fears the stampede could become a Hillsborough-style crush.
Security guards said they were put “under siege” by customers who attacked them, leaving one guard with a dislocated jaw. The store remains closed and a cleanup operation is under way. Ikea apologised for the chaos and admitted the store was understaffed – but added that some customers “behaved like animals”.
Up to 7,000 flocked to the Edmonton store lured by adverts promising huge discounts, including £45 sofas and £30 bed frames, to those who bought before 3am. When the main doors opened 40 security guards were overwhelmed and crowds pushed through, leaving people pinned to the wall or trampled on the ground.
Security guard Gerard Visagie said “I have never felt so threatened. It was madness. A guard next to me was punched by a customer. He had his jaw dislocated. People were punching and kicking me and screaming. We were under siege.’
Paramedics said they had feared a disaster. An ambulance service source said. “I thought it could be another Hillsborough. It’s a miracle no one was killed.”
Video footage showed shoppers fighting over furniture – one man was pinned against a wall by a burly customer as they argued over a sofa – while others were stretchered into ambulances.
A riot over FURNITURE? Now, if New Haven’s Pepe’s Pizzaria was opening, THAT I could understand…
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.