Three-year-old boy found dead in family car during French heatwave, third child fatality this week
A three-year-old boy was found dead by his parents in the family vehicle outside their home in Saint-Gratien, near Paris, as temperatures soared to around 40°C during an exceptional heatwave.
The incident in Saint-Gratien
A three-year-old boy died on Wednesday afternoon after being found unconscious in a car parked in front of his family home in Saint-Gratien, Val-d'Oise. The child had expressed a wish to sleep, and his parents asked him to go to his room. For reasons still unknown, he instead entered the family vehicle, whose doors were unlocked, and became trapped inside. The parents lost sight of him for approximately 45 minutes before discovering him in cardiac arrest.
Rescue attempts and investigation
Emergency services were alerted around 18:50, arriving to find the parents attempting cardiac massage. Firefighters and an emergency doctor tried to resuscitate the child, but he was pronounced dead at 19:35. A passing bus driver, alerted by the mother's screams, jumped the property gate and administered first aid until crews arrived. The mother, in a state of shock, was hospitalised. The father was questioned by police as part of an investigation for involuntary manslaughter, led by the Enghien-les-Bains police station.
He would have stopped his nap and, escaping his parents' supervision for at least 45 minutes, went into the vehicle whose doors were not locked and even though the child safety lock was activated.
A week of tragedy
This death follows the loss of two other children, aged 2 and 4, who were found dead in their mother's car in a residential parking lot in Carpentras, Vaucluse, on Monday. The mayor of Saint-Gratien, Julien Bachard, described the event as a "terrible tragedy" and urged extreme caution during periods of intense heat, especially for children and the elderly. On the same Wednesday evening in Saint-Gratien, a 79-year-old man collapsed in his apartment around 22:30 and could not be revived.
Record-breaking heatwave
France is enduring an exceptional heatwave, with temperatures reaching 40°C and above for several days. Tuesday was the hottest day ever recorded in the country, with a national thermal indicator averaging 29.9°C, a record equalled on Wednesday at a provisional 30°C. Red alerts are in place across 72 departments, affecting 51 million people, with another 13 departments under orange alert. Maximum temperatures of 40 to 42°C are forecast through the weekend.
- Child expresses wish to sleep; parents ask him to go to his room. He instead enters the unlocked family car.
- Parents realise child is not in his bed and begin searching the property.
- Mother finds child unconscious in the car. Emergency services are alerted.
- Firefighters arrive and attempt resuscitation; a passing bus driver also administers first aid.
- Child is pronounced dead at the scene.
Wider impact across Europe
The heatwave gripping much of Europe has been linked to 212 deaths in Spain between Sunday and Wednesday, according to a public institute. In France, around 3,500 schools have closed and 10,000 have adjusted their hours to the early morning. The heat has also caused more than forty drownings in the country and the deaths of several homeless people. Italy expects the peak of its heatwave between the weekend and next Monday.
