Patrick Pelloux

Undaunted by the gunning down of its leading cartoonists, the French weekly Charlie Hebdo plans to print a million copies next Wednesday, almost 30 times more than usual.

An emotional Charlie Hebdo columnist on Thursday described the horrific scene that greeted him after his colleagues were shot dead at the French satirical newspaper's office and said "I couldn't save them".

The French satirical newspaper whose staff was decimated in an Islamist attack will come out as scheduled next week, one of its surviving staffers told AFP on Thursday.

Undaunted by the gunning down of its leading cartoonists, the French weekly Charlie Hebdo plans to print a million copies next Wednesday, almost 30 times more than usual.

An emotional Charlie Hebdo columnist on Thursday described the horrific scene that greeted him after his colleagues were shot dead at the French satirical newspaper's office and said "I couldn't save them".

The French satirical newspaper whose staff was decimated in an Islamist attack will come out as scheduled next week, one of its surviving staffers told AFP on Thursday.