Chaos Erupts as Shoppers Fight Over Air Conditioners Amid Heatwave

[Anchor]

Western Europe is suffering severely from a deadly heatwave brought on by climate change. In France, where cooling appliances are in short supply, a discount event for air conditioners at a supermarket turned violent as crowds clashed.

Paris correspondent Kwon Yeongin reports.

[Reporter]

People gathered in front of a large supermarket from early in the morning.

As soon as the doors opened, the orderly lines vanished, and punches were thrown by people angry over line-cutting.

Inside the store, a fierce brawl broke out to secure air conditioners, with people screaming while desperately clutching the units in their hands.

One man was even seen forcibly taking an air conditioner from a woman.

A woman who had managed to grab two fans instead of an air conditioner was seen collapsed, appearing to have fainted.

This incident occurred on July 2, local time, during a cooling appliance discount event held by a major supermarket in France.

France, which suffered through a heatwave exceeding 40°C (104°F) late last month, has seen its air conditioner inventory depleted. When half-price units were released, the situation turned into total chaos.

[Aziz / Merchant near the supermarket: It was really like a war zone. It was a mess. Mothers were collapsing in the middle of the fighting, people were pushing each other, fathers were hitting others; I have never seen such a scene in my life.]

Due to regulations on air conditioner installation, the air conditioner penetration rate in France remains at around 25%.

Amid the deadly heat, the issue of air conditioning has even escalated into a political dispute between the far-right, which advocates for the installation of large-scale cooling facilities in hospitals and schools, and the left-wing, which opposes it citing carbon emissions.

In other European countries such as Germany and the United Kingdom, the demand for portable air conditioners that do not require outdoor units has skyrocketed, leaving them unavailable even at a premium price.

[Oliver Horak / UK Citizen: The UK is not prepared for the heat at all. When you go to other countries, it becomes very clear how much better they have built their (cooling) infrastructure.]

With excess deaths caused by the heatwave exceeding 3,000 in France and Spain alone, more sweltering heat is forecast for Europe this weekend.

As wildfires continue to spread, particularly in Southern Europe, concerns over a catastrophic heatwave are growing.

(Video reporting: Kim Si-nae | Video editing: Chae Cheol-ho | Source: X(@europa·@inst_Actu·@french_report78))
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.