Published On 7/3/2026
The heat wave hitting France turned into unprecedented scenes of chaos and stampede in front of home appliance stores, in light of the record demand for air conditioners and fans, while video clips spread on social media platforms showing clashes and stampedes inside a number of stores.
RTL Radio reported that one of the well-known commercial chains launched a campaign to sell about two hundred thousand air conditioners and fans throughout France, attracting hundreds of people since the dawn hours, as they lined up in front of stores in the hope of obtaining a device before quantities ran out, at a time when the markets are suffering from an increasing shortage due to successive heat waves.
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The radio indicated that the most intense scenes were recorded in the city of Nanterre, near the capital, Paris, where customers rushed violently the moment the doors opened early Thursday morning, which led to the glass door of the store shattering, while only a limited number of air conditioning devices were available compared to the number of customers.
Total chaos
The same radio station transmitted testimonies from customers who described what happened as a state of complete chaos, as one of the women spoke of fights and hair pulling inside the store, while a young man said that he saw people falling to the ground and others fighting to get an air conditioner, while some shoppers held the store management responsible for the poor organization and lack of quantities on offer.
For its part, BFM Business channel reported that the crisis had spread to several other well-known stores, where some customers were forced to wait since four in the morning, with stampedes and clashes recorded that prompted security forces to intervene in some locations.
In parallel with this, video clips spread on social media sites, especially the X and TikTok platforms, showing long queues in front of stores in Paris, Genevilliers, and Surin, in addition to moments of stampede inside branches, which sparked a wide wave of comments that considered that these scenes reflect the fragility of France’s readiness to face recurring heat waves.
An unprecedented request
According to the BFM Business channel, the demand for cooling devices has risen in an unprecedented way since the beginning of the summer, based on commercial data showing the sale of more than 680,000 fans in just one week, an increase of about 1,500 percent compared to the same period last year.
According to the same source, the crisis revealed the European market’s increasing dependence on Chinese factories, which dominate the global air conditioning industry, as China’s exports of air conditioning equipment to France rose by 57 percent during May, even before the arrival of severe heat waves in June.
