Temperatures cool, tempers flare in heat-struck France

Temperatures edged closer to normal yesterday in France after a punishing, two-week heat wave claimed as many as 3,000 lives. But as the weather cooled down, the political climate simmered amid accusations of government inertia in the face of a major health crisis.

Abnormally high temperatures baked France and other parts of Europe earlier this month, fanning forest fires and devastating livestock. But other countries reported far fewer deaths than France. Spain, for example, has recorded 42.

Health Minister Jean-Francois Mattei, speaking to reporters after an emergency meeting with Raffarin, said Thursday that "the figure that today reflects a reasonable estimate is between 1,500 and 3,000 dead."

That was lower than an earlier ministry statement putting the number at about 3,000, but was surprisingly high to many. It was the government's first official death toll estimate; a final, nationwide figure is to be released next week.

Opponents sharply criticized the conservative government of Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin for responding too late to the crisis. Socialist party head Francois Hollande demanded a formal inquiry into what he called "a considerable health catastrophe."

But lawmaker Christian Estrosi, from the government's ruling UMP coalition, blamed a law enacted by Socialists when they were in power that limits France's working week to 35 hours. That left medical centers and hospitals short-staffed at the height of the crisis.

"This exception climatic situation has been revealing. With the 35 hours, they [Socialists] left us with a ticking time bomb. Today, it exploded in our faces," Estrosi said.

The Health Ministry said in its statement that the deaths were "directly or indirectly" linked to the heat, and that many of the victims were elderly.

The conclusions were drawn from studying deaths in 23 Paris regional hospitals from July 25-Aug. 12 and from information provided by General Funeral Services, France's largest undertaker. Doctors have cited fatal cases of heat stroke and dehydration among the causes.

According to 2002 figures, Paris regional hospitals surveyed could have expected some 39 deaths a day, the ministry said. But on Aug. 12 this year, they recorded nearly 180.

General Funeral Services said it handled some 3,230 deaths from Aug. 6-12, compared to 2,300 on an average week -- a 37 percent jump.

"It's a nationwide catastrophe the likes of which we've never seen," Patrick Pelloux, head of the association for French emergency hospital physicians, told Europe-1 radio Thursday. He has repeatedly criticized the government for reacting too slowly.

Mattei insisted the government responded when the first cases of heat-related death appeared, telling France-Inter radio: "We didn't just remain inactive."

Morgues, funeral homes and cemeteries were overrun with bodies. Some hospitals requisitioned kitchen refrigerators to hold the dead, while others put up tents to keep corpses before burial, Pelloux said.

Some officials said one problem is that the country all but shuts down in August, when many French go on vacation. Hospital services in cities are curtailed and many families leave their elderly relatives at home.