The funeral homes of Paris recorded, this Monday (29), their maximum capacity due to the increase in deaths during the wave of heat. Across the country, it is estimated that at least thousand people lost their lives possibly due to high temperatures.
THE France Last week, temperatures exceeded 40ºC during the day and a record for the hottest night with an average of 22ºC, which reached 26.4ºC in the capital. Authorities have not ruled out the possibility of another extreme heat wave in mid-July.
This Sunday (28), the national public health agency said that since Wednesday (24) around a thousand additional deaths had been recorded compared to previous months.
The majority of deaths (85%) are of people aged 65 or over, according to authorities.
The biggest increases reported were recorded in deaths at home, especially in Paris and the outskirts of the capital.
The president of the National Federation of Funeral Homes, Élisabeth Charrier, said this Monday that the occupancy of companies usually fluctuates between 30% and 45% during the summer. However, it rose from 66% across the country.
“The main difficulty is in Paris, where the only two funeral homes have been at maximum capacity since Friday (26),” Carrier told AFP, adding that this situation leads many family members to look for a location outside the capital.
The opposition criticized authorities for what it described as a lack of preparation for extreme weather conditions. Environmentalist leader Marine Tondelier cited “political responsibility” for the “serious human cost.”
At the start of a new crisis meeting, French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu defended the government’s plan for the heat wave, which, in his assessment, “did well”. According to him, the first air conditioning units, of the 30 thousand ordered for hospitals, will begin to arrive by the end of the week.
Lecornu said the number of people who died at home was much higher than in previous heat waves. “By the time emergency services arrive, unfortunately, people have already died.”
One of these people is the aunt of maintenance technician Thierry Vanwesemael. The 80-year-old woman lived in a nursing home located on the top floor of a building in Paris. The building does not have an elevator, according to him.
“On some nights, the temperature reached 47 degrees Celsius in the apartment,” Vanwesemael said. The elderly woman only had two fans on site.
Without receiving news from her on Saturday (27) and alerted by neighbors, he authorized firefighters to enter the property, but the woman had already passed away.
While waiting for the funeral service to arrive, for several hours, his nephew and a friend placed ice in the room “to prevent the body from decomposing,” he added.
