Three children were found dead in vehicles in France this week, prosecutors said, in a tragic sign of how Europe’s record-breaking heat wave is taking a growing toll among its most vulnerable.
In the latest incident, a 3-year-old boy was found dead in the family car on Wednesday evening, according to the public prosecutor in Pontoise, north of Paris, where temperatures rose higher than 100 degrees Fahrenheit that day. Emergency responders, called to the home, could not resuscitate the child, who was pronounced dead at 7:35 p.m.
The prosecutor said it appeared the boy had locked himself inside the vehicle while his mother was taking a nap and his father was working in the yard. The child’s mother, who was in shock, has been hospitalized. Prosecutors said they had opened an investigation, with potential charges of involuntary manslaughter.
It was the second case of children dying in vehicles in France this week. On Monday, two children, ages 2 and 4, were found unresponsive in a family car, that was parked outside their home in Carpentras, in southeastern France, the local prosecutor said. Medical examiners said it was probable that they died from exposure to excessive heat, the prosecutor said.
The deaths came as the French government announced that 40 people had drowned in heat wave-related accidents between June 18 and June 23, when thousands of people jumped into canals, rivers and other waterways for relief.
To offer children a refuge from overheated houses and classrooms, French companies are allowing employees to bring their children to offices, which are among the few air-conditioned places in France.
Back Market, a French company that sells refurbished phones and laptops, posted a message on LinkedIn saying children were welcome at the office as part of their “heat wave plan.” Omnicom Media France, the French division of a global media communications agency, opened their doors to children for the second consecutive year.
“It was an obvious choice for us,” the company said in a message posted on LinkedIn, “given that many schools were closed and parents needed to make arrangements so they could work in good conditions.”
After nearly a week of scorching heat, France is beginning to stagger. The health minister, Stéphanie Rist, told reporters that in the past 24 hours, Paris had recorded four times the normal rate of people suffering cardiac arrest. A group of teachers’ unions demanded that government close schools, citing a spike in the number of staff members fainting or having to go to the emergency room.
The country’s state-owned train operator, S.N.C.F., said it had canceled 10 percent of its trains on Thursday because of the heat wave. Christophe Fanichet, the company’s chief executive, said that the company would refund passengers who wanted to cancel trips and allow them to rebook free of charge.
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