A worker was killed in the crush on Friday after a throng of shoppers eager for bargains burst through the doors at a suburban Wal-Mart, authorities said.

Echoing an incident in Australia in 1992 when the doors of Sydney's Grace Bros store collapsed under pressure from waiting shoppers, at least four other people were injured, and the store in Valley Stream on New York's Long Island was closed.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. in Bentonville, Arkansas, called the incident a "tragic situation" and said the employee came from a temporary agency and was doing maintenance work at the store.

"He was bum-rushed by 200 people," co-worker Jimmy Overby, 43, told the Daily News. "They took the doors off the hinges. He was trampled and killed in front of me. They took me down too. ... I literally had to fight people off my back."

Nassau County police said the 34-year-old worker was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead about 6am. The man's name was not released and the cause of death was not immediately known.

A police statement said shortly after the store's 5am opening time, shoppers "physically broke down the doors, knocking (the worker) to the ground".

A metal portion of the door was crumpled like an accordion.

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