While many people rush to open water to cool off, tragically, that too brings its own dangers.
At least 40 people have died within the past week in France trying to escape the blistering heatwave. The deaths were all classed as drowning and most of them were young people, French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu confirmed.
Officials have warned against swimming in unsupervised waters, citing the risk of dangerous currents and temperature variations. Sports and Youth Minister Marina Ferrari said: “It’s not something to be taken lightly, going swimming in unsupervised areas during a heat wave.”
The drowning death toll, which began on Thursday, 18 June, is sadly just a fraction of the many around the country. It comes as two toddlers were found dead inside a car in France as temperatures reached 40 °C. They had climbed into their 33-year-old mother’s car, which was parked in the family garage, before trapping themselves inside.
While it is unknown how long the children were inside the vehicle for, French newspaper Le Parisien reports that the firefighters received the call at around 1.20pm local time today. The children, who were aged just two and four years old, were then found by the emergency services in cardiac arrest. Despite best efforts to resuscitate them, they tragically passed away.
It is believed that the mother had no knowledge that her children were inside the car, and she has now been taken into care by emergency services and has not been questioned, Carpentras prosecutor Helene Mourges said.
Just days ago, three elderly people died from heat at their homes in Bordeaux on Sunday. The victims were two men and a woman aged between 80 and 95. Sophie Brocas, the state’s representative in the area, told France 3 Aquitaine: “We sadly regret three deaths of elderly people, between 80 and 95 years old.”
She said emergency services were “currently attributing” the deaths to the heatwave, which is comparable in intensity to the August 2003 heatwave, one of the deadliest in European history.
European countries have also restricted public drinking, cancelled transport, concerts, and sporting events, and are preparing to close schools as they urge people to take extreme precautions in what is likely to be a deadly heatwave.