Chirac Demands Heatwave Facts

Thousands are thought to have died in the heat in France

August 20, 2003

French President Jacques Chirac has asked ministers to give detailed accounts of effects of the recent heatwave, which is believed to have caused the deaths of thousands of elderly people.

Mr Chirac, who returned from his holiday on Wednesday, asked the health, interior, environment, agriculture and industry ministers to report on their respective fields at a cabinet meeting on Thursday.

The move follows an estimate by France's leading undertakers' organisation of more than 10,000 more deaths during the heatwave than in similar periods in previous years.

Western Europe was gripped by the heat for the first two weeks of August, with temperatures in France soaring above 40C.

The government earlier admitted a plausible upper limit of 5,000 deaths, but the Health Ministry has refused to confirm the new estimate.

"Only a scientific tally ... will allow us to know exactly how many deaths were linked to the heatwave," it said in a statement quoted by AFP.

European doubts

Correspondents say France, which is ranked best in the world for its health care system, has been shocked by the soaring death rate.

Doctors groups and the Socialist opposition have accused the government of foot-dragging during the crisis.

On Monday Surgeon-General Lucien Abenheim resigned after facing criticism for failing to raise the alarm quickly enough.

In the wake of the revelations in France, official figures in other Europe countries have been questioned, including:

* Spain, where opposition politicians say health ministry figures of 46 dead are "not credible", and undertakers reportedly say death rates rose dramatically
* Italy, where the newspaper La Repubblica said there were at least 2,000 more deaths in Italy than in the same period last year, but no official fatality figures have been released
* Germany, where meteorologists said several hundred deaths were likely to be attributed to the heat despite an official figure of just 17.

Temperatures in most countries have now subsided, but drought is continuing to beset farmers and some forest fires have continued to burn.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3167925.stm