Heatwave in France: baby dies in A&E, fourth child death this week

An 18-month-old baby died after being found unconscious with heatstroke in a car in Marseille on Tuesday 23 June. A parent is believed to have left the child on the La Timone medical campus car park while going to work. A baby has died in hospital after being found in an overheated car during a severe heatwave in Marseille, the hospital said on Friday. It is already the fourth such death to occur in France this week, after a case in Val-d'Oise on Thursday and two in Carpentras on Monday. The civil protection service said it had rushed the 18-month-old infant to the paediatrics department after finding the child suffering from hyperthermia in a vehicle on Tuesday, in the car park of the university campus at La Timone hospital, which belongs to Aix-Marseille University. The baby was taken to the emergency department at La Timone hospital in a life-threatening condition, and later died in hospital. It is not yet known exactly when the child died; the announcement of the death was made on Friday 26 June. Temperatures in Marseille reached up to 33 °C on Tuesday, while the Bouches-du-Rhône département was on orange alert for a heatwave. "It is with deep sadness that we learnt of the tragic event that occurred on the Timone campus. We extend our sincerest condolences to the victim's family and loved ones. We also express our support for everyone who witnessed or has been affected by this tragic event," said Éric Berton, president of Aix-Marseille University, in a statement sent to AFP. The university has set up a counselling and psychological support unit for staff and witnesses_._ An inquiry has been opened by the public prosecutor's office to determine the circumstances of the child's death. It has been handed to the territorial crime division. According to media reports, the child's parent is believed to have forgotten the child in the car after going to work on the campus. Sadly, this is not the first case of a child dying from heat in which a car has been involved. A three-year-old child died after becoming trapped in a car in Saint-Gratien in the Val-d'Oise département, near Paris, in extreme heat, the Pontoise public prosecutor announced on Thursday. The boy had climbed into the family car while his father thought he was having a nap; he then found himself unable to get out because of the child lock. On Monday, the bodies of two children aged two and four were found in the family car in a residential car park in Carpentras, in the south of France. The two children are thought to have got into the vehicle after slipping out of their mother's sight, and then become trapped inside.