Charlie Hebdo's defiant new issue is selling out before dawn around Paris, and still people are lining up at kiosks in case of a spare copy of the paper fronting the Prophet Muhammad.
The core of the irreverent newspaper's staff perished a week ago when Islamist extremists stormed its offices, killing 12. Those who survived put out the issue that appeared on newsstands Wednesday, working out of borrowed offices, with a print run of 3 million — more than 50 times the usual circulation.
One newsstand just off Paris' Champs Elysee sold out at 6:05 a.m. — five minutes after opening. At Saint-Lazare, people hoping to buy a copy scuffled when they realized there weren't enough to go around.
The newspaper appears as France's government prepares strict new anti-terror measures.
Meanwhile, the Canadian distributor for the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo says 1,500 copies of the latest issue — which features a caricature of the Prophet Muhammad on the cover — will be available in different parts of the country Friday.
Louis-Philip Vermeersch, director of sales for LMPI, says that's up from the 100 issues that are usually delivered for distribution each week.
But he says the increased production likely won't be enough to meet demand for the issue from those Canadians who want to see the latest copy of a magazine at the centre of an international tragedy.
Charlie Hebdo is usually only available in Quebec and one store in Toronto, but Vermeersch says distribution will be more widespread this time.
Copies will be available at five Toronto stores, one in New Brunswick, one in Nova Scotia and a handful in Vancouver in addition to its usual Quebec-based retailers.
Vermeersch said he expects the magazine to be on newsstands by noon on Friday.
