Record-breaking heatwaves have claimed thousands of lives in France, with reports claiming that deaths surged by nearly a third in the European country during the hottest week of a record heat wave last month.
France endured a rise of nearly 30 percent in the number of deaths recorded during the week starting June 22, health authorities said on Friday, according to news agency AFP.
Heatwaves in France
France recorded its hottest June since records began in 1947, weather service Meteo-France was quoted as saying. Heatwave from June 17 to 30 saw temperatures spike above 40 degrees Celsius across more than 40 percent of the country.
Health authorities reportedly said there had been at least “an increase of 29.1 percent, corresponding to 2,025 additional deaths” during the week starting June 22, when temperatures peaked, compared with the previous week.
Public Health France said it has counted 8,973 deaths so far for that week, cautioning that the number is still only partial. It said the preliminary total was 29% more than the 6,948 deaths registered for the previous week of June 15 to June 21, when the heat wave started.
The difference between the two sets of figures — a total so far of 2,025 — is therefore considered to be additional deaths from one week to the next, from all causes and covering all age groups, it said, as per Associated Press.
The new and still incomplete figures from Public Health France doubled its first preliminary estimate of at least 1,000 additional deaths that it gave last Sunday. That earlier estimate covered just three of the hottest days of extreme, deadly heat.
Amid allegations of poor preparedness for the extreme heat, which forced schools to close and trains to be cancelled, Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu’s government faces a no-confidence vote in parliament, possibly on Monday.
Public Health France noted “a clear rise” in deaths among 45 to 64-year-olds. But “people aged 65 and over account for the largest share of deaths,” it added.
The number of deaths increased by around 62 percent in the Paris region over the same period, Public Health France added. Scientists said human-caused climate change was “unequivocally” responsible for the intensity of the heatwave that battered Europe in late June.
Deaths at home
Deaths at home nearly doubled within a single week, Public Health France added.
Lecornu said more people died in their homes during the latest heatwave than in previous episodes.
Health officials said young people were also among the victims.
During that last week of June, four young children died across France in parked cars that overheated.
Some politicians say France has failed to implement measures to address rising temperatures.
Around 15,000 people died in France during a severe heatwave in 2003, with many elderly people dying in nursing homes.
The June heatwave is considered more intense, but authorities say its consequences have been less severe.
“It will probably not be comparable,” Health Minister Stephanie Rist said on Friday.
Nicolas Revel, director general of the Paris public hospital system, has said he expects the death toll from the June heatwave to be lower than that of 2003, but “probably” higher than an episode last year that claimed 5,700 lives.
The Greens have claimed the June heatwave might have caused 10,000 deaths in France, prompting a strong rebuttal from Lecornu.
Last month’s heatwave caused thousands of excess deaths in Europe, according to estimates in France, Spain and Belgium.
Belgium recorded 39 percent more fatalities than normal between June 18 and 29, with 1,222 excess deaths during the period, health authorities there said Friday.
France also experienced an unusually early heatwave in May, with health officials saying there were at least 300 more deaths than expected during that period.
(With inputs from AFP)
