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Health chief resigns over 5,000 heat-wave deaths

The head of France's health authority resigned Monday as the health ministry admitted that the final death toll from the recent heatwave, which hit the country in the first half of this month, could be 5,000.

News of Lucien Abenhaim's departure came as the French government began searching for the causes underlying the disaster, which has led to the deaths of thousands of France's oldest and most vulnerable citizens.

Health Minister Jean-Francois Mattei rounded on the health authority on Monday, complaining that the government had not had sufficient warning of the crisis.

"We did not have the information or the warning that we should have had. As soon as we were alerted, we did what we had to do, but I'm not sure we were alerted soon enough," he said.

But Mattei, who has been criticized for the casual press conference he gave last Monday from his holiday villa in the south of France as news of hundreds of casualties began to emerge, resisted calls from opposition leaders and medical organizations to resign.

On Sunday, Mattei dismissed the possibility that the number of victims could reach 5,000 but yesterday, as new information emerged, he conceded that this was a "plausible" figure. This delayed shift in opinion echoed the government's slow response to the crisis.

Mattei and Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin cut their holidays short when the crisis deepened last week. Raffarin's initial reaction to the first reports of fatalities was to say that the government had the matter under control. To suggest otherwise was to indulge in inappropriate party politics, he said.
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