A 3-year-old boy has died after becoming trapped inside a hot car during an intense heatwave that has brought record temperatures to France and other parts of Europe, authorities said.
The child got into the vehicle on Wednesday after his father had told him to take a nap, officials said. Once inside, the car’s child-lock system reportedly engaged, leaving him unable to get out as temperatures in Saint-Gratien, near Paris, climbed above 85 degrees Fahrenheit.
“He apparently shut himself in and became trapped in the vehicle before being found unconscious by his parents,” public prosecutor Guirec Le Bras said, referring to the early findings of the investigation.
Authorities said the boy was in the car for about 45 minutes before his parents discovered him unconscious. Emergency crews attempted to revive him, but he could not be saved and was later declared dead.
After the child’s body was recovered, his mother was taken to the hospital suffering from shock.
The tragedy came on what officials described as France’s hottest day since national records began in 1947. Seventy-two départements — France’s main territorial divisions — were placed on high alert, while 17 others were under moderate alert.
In Paris, typical June temperatures range from about 57 to 73 degrees Fahrenheit, according to the French government’s meteorological service.
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Health experts have warned that the current heatwave could prove even deadlier than the extreme temperatures France endured in 2003, when an estimated 15,000 people died across the country.
First deputy mayor of Paris Emmanuel Grégoire is calling on people to “be careful for their own sake,” adding that his country may have to become a “France of fans and a France of air conditioners,” Euronews reported.
Two other children — also found in their family car — died in Carpentras, in the southeastern part of the country.
Their causes of death are “yet to be determined,” Hélène Mourges, Carpentras’ town prosecutor, told the press. It is believed that the pair escaped their mother’s supervision and became trapped inside.
Temperatures in Carpentras reached above 100 degrees Fahrenheit on Monday.
Three elderly people between the ages of 80 and 95 have also died as a result of health issues caused by extreme temperatures.
At least 48 others drowned in swimming accidents, authorities said.
Experts said the “Euro heat dome” is caused by an “Omega block,” a high amount of pressure in the upper atmosphere, according to Weather.com. When the heat has nowhere to go, the dome inhibits any storms that would extricate the heat.
