Not since the collapse of Communism has Europe seen queueing on a scale like that to be found all over France today, as fans of freedom clamoured to get their hands on copies of the survivors’ edition of Charlie Hebdo.
The first print run, which will continue tomorrow to take the total to five million copies of the niche political magazine, hit news stands in the early hours of this morning. In many places queues had already formed and whole stocks sold out almost immediately.
Some newsagents in France and Britain are running ‘waiting lists’ for the few copies they will receive in the subsequent printings on Thursday and Friday.
Parisians Wait for a Newsagents to Open in the Early Hours. A Poster on the Side Proclaims “I am Charlie” REUTERS