Tragedy as 2 toddlers trapped inside car cook to death in 40C heat

Two toddlers have been found dead inside a car in France as temperatures reached 40C. They had climbed into their 33-year-old mother’s car, which was parked in the family garage, before trapping themselves inside.

While it is unknown how long the children were inside the vehicle for, French newspaper Le Parisien reports that the firefighters received the call at around 1.20 pm local time today. The children, who were aged just two and four years old, were then found by the emergency services in cardiac arrest. Despite best efforts to resuscitate them, they tragically passed away.

It is believed that the mother had no knowledge that her children were inside the car, and she has now been taken into care by emergency services and has not been questioned, Carpentras prosecutor Helene Mourges said.

The incident was officially announced by the Carpentras prosecutor’s office in Vaucluse, who said the cause of death is “still under investigation” but that “the heatwave is the leading theory”. The temperature was expected to exceed 39C that afternoon.

It comes after three elderly people died from heat at their homes in Bordeaux on Sunday. The victims were two men and a woman aged between 80 and 95. Sophie Brocas, the state’s representative in the area, told France 3 Aquitaine: “We sadly regret three deaths of elderly people, between 80 and 95 years old.”

She said emergency services were “currently attributing” the deaths to the heatwave, which is comparable in intensity to the August 2003 heatwave, one of the deadliest in European history.

The deaths occurred in the towns of Cenon, Saint-Médard-en-Jalles and Saint-Jean-d’Illac as temperatures exceeded 36C across a large part of France, with some towns recording temperatures over 40C. Thirteen more drowned in swimming accidents.

Meanwhile, in the UK, temperatures are set to soar to 40 degrees. The Met Office has issued a red weather warning and warned that this week could break the record for the hottest June temperature of 35.6 °C, which was set in 1976 in Southampton. Brits have been told to stay out of the sun and avoid exercising between 11am and 3pm.

A Met Office forecast states: “Temperatures will quickly rise on Monday morning and are forecast to reach 34C in southern parts of England.

“The heat will build further into Tuesday, with highs of 37C forecast for southern England and 35C southeast Wales. The peak of the heatwave is now forecast for Wednesday and Thursday, when temperatures are expected to climb to 38C. By Friday conditions will be less hot, with highs of 33C forecast across eastern areas.”

It adds: “During the heatwave expected to affect a large part of England and Wales this week, the highlighted area now looks increasingly likely to see a two to three day period where maximum temperatures in the shade exceed 37 Celsius, perhaps rising to 38 to 40 Celsius in some places.

“Significant disruption to daily life is likely and the public should take every effort to make precautions and adapt their daily routines where possible to cope with these levels of heat, which up to now have been extremely rare for the UK.”