Europe is in the grip of extreme heat these days. Nearly 1,000 additional deaths have been recorded in France in the last week due to record-breaking temperatures. On normal days, there are 900 to 1000 deaths every day in France. But at the height of the summer, there were more than 1,200 deaths last Wednesday and more than 1,400 over the next two days.
This severe heat wave has completely filled the crematoriums of Paris, the capital of France. Bereaved families and people performing the last rites are wandering here and there in search of a place. Every few minutes the phone of the mortuary owner is ringing and the question is the same – “Do you have space to keep one more body?”
32 places in the cold room of Paris mortuary owner Zouhaeir Hertelli’s mortuary are completely filled. He is forced to say no every time. Harteli says-
“We are really going through a disaster situation. I am getting hundreds of calls.”
Red alert continues in three-fourths of the country. The surge in deaths came as the country recorded its hottest day ever last week, according to preliminary data from France’s public health agency. More than 1,200 deaths were reported on Wednesday, while the number crossed 1,400 on Thursday and Friday. There have been at least 1,000 additional deaths in these three days alone, and the figure could rise further as certificates of deaths in homes and elderly care centers are still arriving.
More than 85% of these deaths were people aged 65 years or above. Especially in the Paris region, there was an increase of about 40% in deaths at homes. Many elderly people lived alone and became vulnerable to the heat.
Paris City Hall set up two temporary storage units and took 50 extra spaces from hospitals, but is still running out of space. Some funerals are having to send bodies to Chartres or other areas, up to 80 kilometers away. Most of the deaths have occurred among people who lived alone at home.
Earlier in the terrible heat of 2003, about 15,000 deaths had occurred. At that time, there was a debate in the entire country regarding the care of the elderly. Last year too, there were more than 5,700 deaths due to heat.
Temperatures in Paris reached 44 degrees Celsius (111.2 Fahrenheit) this week. Can’t sleep due to heat above 40 degrees during the day and even at night. This heat wave is spreading in other countries of Europe also.
Temperatures reached above 40 degrees Celsius in many places in Europe. A new record of 41.7 degrees was set in Germany, while 41.1 degrees was recorded in the Czech Republic. Scientists say that such extreme heat would not have been possible without climate change. People in Germany have been warned to avoid unnecessary train travel.