At least 50 Parisians have died of heat-related illnesses after a week of record-setting temperatures, a French medical expert said -- a claim that if proven would double the number of deaths blamed on the unrelenting heat wave baking much of Europe.
The government said Monday it was difficult to determine if the deaths were weather-related, because it is often not clear whether patients admitted to hospitals suffer only from heat or from other ailments.
PHOTO: AFP
Patrick Pelloux, the head of France's emergency hospital physicians' association, insisted scores of deaths were going uncounted in the Paris region and accused the government of failing to deal with a silent health crisis.
"They dare to talk about ... natural deaths. I absolutely do not agree with that," Pelloux told TF1 television late Sunday.
The government acknowledged an increase in the number of elderly being treated at hospitals, but said it was unclear if the heat was to blame.
"People don't come in with `dying of heat' on their foreheads," said Stephane Grossier, of the Health Ministry. "Things are not as simple as they seem."
Still, funeral directors say demand for their services has risen sharply since the heat wave took hold. Les Pompes funebres generales, France's largest undertaker, said it has handled 50 percent more bodies in Paris, a company spokesman said. He noted the increase was "tied to the heat wave."
Five people between the ages of 89 and 96 died in a retirement home over the weekend in the Essonne, a region south of Paris, the home's director said.
Elsewhere in Europe, authorities counted at least 45 heat-related deaths, the latest occurring in Spain, where five people died Monday while fleeing a forest fire.
The victims, apparently members of one family, left home in the northeastern town of Sant Llorenc Savall and died of smoke inhalation, officials said. Most other Spanish victims were elderly and suffered from chronic lung and heart diseases, officials said.
Temperatures were expected to surge to 43?C in some areas of southern Spain this week before dropping off, the National Weather Center said.
A record high for overnight temperatures in Paris was set Sunday into Monday, when the thermometer hit 25.5?C, according to Meteo France, the national weather service. The previous record was 24?C, set in 1976.
Because of high pollution caused by the heat, Paris police urged motorists not to use their cars Monday and reduced speed limits.
Not even the Nordic countries have been spared. Temperatures in Denmark reached 32?C over the weekend.
Temperatures were cooler in Britain on Monday, a day after the nation recorded its hottest day ever -- 38.1?C -- at Gravesend in southern England.
FALSE DOCUMENTS? Actor William Liao said he was ‘voluntarily cooperating’ with police after a suspect was accused of helping to produce false medical certificates Police yesterday questioned at least six entertainers amid allegations of evasion of compulsory military service, with Lee Chuan (李銓), a member of boy band Choc7 (超克7), and actor Daniel Chen (陳大天) among those summoned. The New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office in January launched an investigation into a group that was allegedly helping men dodge compulsory military service using falsified medical documents. Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) has been accused of being one of the group’s clients. As the investigation expanded, investigators at New Taipei City’s Yonghe Precinct said that other entertainers commissioned the group to obtain false documents. The main suspect, a man surnamed
The government is considering polices to increase rental subsidies for people living in social housing who get married and have children, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said yesterday. During an interview with the Plain Law Movement (法律白話文) podcast, Cho said that housing prices cannot be brought down overnight without affecting banks and mortgages. Therefore, the government is focusing on providing more aid for young people by taking 3 to 5 percent of urban renewal projects and zone expropriations and using that land for social housing, he said. Single people living in social housing who get married and become parents could obtain 50 percent more
DEMOGRAPHICS: Robotics is the most promising answer to looming labor woes, the long-term care system and national contingency response, an official said Taiwan is to launch a five-year plan to boost the robotics industry in a bid to address labor shortages stemming from a declining and aging population, the Executive Yuan said yesterday. The government approved the initiative, dubbed the Smart Robotics Industry Promotion Plan, via executive order, senior officials told a post-Cabinet meeting news conference in Taipei. Taiwan’s population decline would strain the economy and the nation’s ability to care for vulnerable and elderly people, said Peter Hong (洪樂文), who heads the National Science and Technology Council’s (NSTC) Department of Engineering and Technologies. Projections show that the proportion of Taiwanese 65 or older would
Democracies must remain united in the face of a shifting geopolitical landscape, former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) told the Copenhagen Democracy Summit on Tuesday, while emphasizing the importance of Taiwan’s security to the world. “Taiwan’s security is essential to regional stability and to defending democratic values amid mounting authoritarianism,” Tsai said at the annual forum in the Danish capital. Noting a “new geopolitical landscape” in which global trade and security face “uncertainty and unpredictability,” Tsai said that democracies must remain united and be more committed to building up resilience together in the face of challenges. Resilience “allows us to absorb shocks, adapt under
RSS