Day after stampede ... shopping: LI Wal-Mart reopens after worker fatally trampled

[Refugee 7]

Shoppers calmly walk into a Long Island Wal-Mart a day after a Black Friday stampede killed a worker.

A 1993 photo of Jdimytai Damour, the 34-year-old Wal-Mart employee who died after being trampled on Black Friday.

The Long Island Wal-Mart store where a worker died after being trampled by Black Friday shoppers opened Saturday morning with beefed-up security and calmer, somber crowds.

About 100 people waited patiently in line for the doors to open at 7 a.m. and entered the Long Island outlet without any of the mayhem that sparked tragedy a day earlier.

"The line was sad," said Elaine Ryans, 38, from Elmont, Long Island.

"It was like, 'Are we going to a funeral or are we going shopping?' It was sad, it turned me off ... at least it was controlled."

Chaos erupted inside the Valley Stream store at 5 a.m. Friday when an "out-of-control" mob of frenzied shoppers smashed through the mechanized front doors, trampling 34-year-old Jdimytai Damour.

Several employees were knocked to the ground and others were sent scurrying atop vending machines to avoid the masses.

Damour, a temporary maintenance worker, was seen gasping for air as shoppers continued to surge inside, witnesses said.

Doctors told family members that Damour, who lived in Jamaica, Queens, died of a heart attack. Four shoppers, including a woman eight months pregnant, were also injured.

Nassau County cops were reviewing surveillance video to see if they could identify the shopper who knocked down Damour.

His death was on the minds of consumers who came to Wal-Mart for a second day of post-Thanksgiving bargains.

"It felt a little freakish," said shopper Ellie Berhun, 48, from Lynbrook, Long Island. "Some man lost his life, because a VCR was on sale? Please. It's just too sad for words."

Staff gathered in Aisle 6 late last night to light a candle at the spot where Damour died.

"It was somber," one worker said.

"We were holding hands and saying prayers."

Extra security was on hand for Saturday's opening and police cruisers patrolled nearby. The only vestiges of the mayhem was taped-up glass on a door - and emotional scars.

"I was scared," a Wal-Mart worker said shortly after the store opened.

[brandonwood20 0]

Absolutely, one of the worst ways to go. How absurd.

[Echosoftom 3]

This was such a senseless tragedy. What an awful way to lose your life. :085:

There's no way I would have been able to go in that store the next day.

[pettyfreak94 1]

If everyone had patience, this would've never happened

[Dynabeat Tim 0]

I feel for that man and his family. Just a guy trying to make a honest dollar.

[wild1forever 152]

^ I feel for him, too. What a way to go.

There's no way I could have shopped in that store, either.

[agirl 0]

^ me either. This is just so sad.