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A 34-year-old Wal-Mart worker died Friday morning after "a throng of shoppers . . . physically broke down the doors" and knocked him to the ground as the crowd pushed its way into the store at a Valley Stream mall, Nassau police said.

One police officer told Newsday the prelude to the death was "a mob scene." The man who died was a temporary, part-time Wal-Mart worker, the officer said.

Shoppers who surged into the store were asked to leave by Wal-Mart workers, some of them crying and visibly upset, said one shopper, Kimberly Cribbs of Far Rockaway.

Though rumors circulated among the shoppers that someone had been badly injured, people ignored the Wal-Mart workers' requests that they stop shopping, move to the front of the store and exit, Cribbs said.

"They kept shopping. It's not right. They're savages," Cribbs said.

She said she entered the store after the worker was already being attended to by emergency personnel. As people waited, then pushed into the store, she said, "It was chaos."

Another shopper said people were screaming and shoving in line before the opening.

The worker was knocked down at 5:03 a.m. at the Green Acres Mall store, and was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 6:03 a.m.

As of Friday morning the cause of death was described as "undetermined," police said. An exact cause of death will be determined by the county medical examiner's office, police said. The man's name was not immediately made public by the police, and the store was closed.

Police are reviewing the security tapes from the store entrance.

A spokeswoman for Wal-Mart, in Bentonville, Ark., said she was unable to comment immediately, and said the company was seeking details on the incident.

Four other Wal-Mart shoppers at the Valley Stream store were taken to hospitals Friday morning. A 28-year-old pregnant woman was taken to a hospital for observation, and three other shoppers suffered minor injuries and were taken to hospitals for treatment.

The Fifth Squad is investigating.

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