Chaos ruled as thousands of shopping fanatics crowded Ha Noi supermarkets at the weekend to buy products marked down by 30 to 50 per cent.

Police tried desperately to reroute traffic as massive crowds and countless vehicles milled around trying to get into the stores. (Photo: VNN)

Police tried desperately to reroute traffic as massive crowds and countless vehicles milled around trying to get into the stores.

The chaos was created by big supermarkets such as Metro, Viet Long, Fivimart, Big C, Nguyen Kim, Ruby Plaza, Parkson and Intimex offering household appliances, cooking and jewellery at huge reductions.

Le Van Sang, a customer in Thanh Xuan District, said he managed to buy a washing machine at half price after waiting for four hours.

“I was luckier than others, who were exhausted, even fainting, because of the crowds,” he said.

He said he would have to seriously consider about going to another sale because of the fear of being locked into crowds of struggling people.

Sang said that to save time and lessen crowding on sales days, supermarkets should display boards explaining where the different products were available.

Nguyen The Anh from Ha Dong District said that after waiting for nearly two hours, he could not even get into a supermarket to find something to buy.

He said more space should be set aside for parking and that customers should be guided on where to park on such days.

Policeman Nguyen Duc Tan said that before the Big C market opening, more than 2,000 customers jostled outside. Together with guards from the store he tried to redirect traffic to minimise jams.

Yesterday, November 16, Vu Vinh Phu, chairman of the Ha Noi Supermarkets’ Association, said that a hot line (04-1081) had been set up to provide customers with information about the goods on sale and their discount rates.

He said that co-operation between the Industry and Trade Department and the traffic police would be set up to reroute traffic.

VietNamNet/Viet Nam News