Heatwave deaths rise as funeral homes hit capacity in France

France on Monday counted its heat-related deaths, as a funeral business representative said Paris morgues have been overwhelmed by a spike in fatalities during a record-breaking heatwave.

The government defended its response to the heatwave, which eased on Sunday after days of punishing temperatures that disrupted daily life and forced the closure of many schools and landmark tourist attractions.

Few homes in France are equipped with air-conditioning units, and most schools are not designed to cope with extreme heat.

Elisabeth Charrier, head of the National Funeral Federation, said funeral home occupancy — which typically ranges between 30 percent and 45 percent during the summer — has climbed above 66 percent nationwide.

In some locations, mortuaries reached full capacity, particularly in urban centres, she added.

“The main difficulty is in central Paris, where the only two funeral homes have been at full capacity since last Friday,” Charrier told AFP.

“People have to go outside Paris — into the inner or outer suburbs, or even further — to find space and be able to pay their respects.”

She warned of a “domino effect” in the coming days.

“What may complicate matters is the extension of waiting times for cremation slots or burial space in cemeteries,” she added.

“Cemetery staff cannot dig graves much faster, and cremation slots fill up very quickly.”

French health officials said Sunday there had been around 1,000 more deaths than during the same period in previous months since Wednesday last week, when France was at its hottest since records began.

Eighty-five percent of those who died were aged 65 and over, they said.

The sharpest increases involved people dying at home, especially in Paris and its suburbs, they added.

Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu defended his government’s response at a meeting on Monday, saying the measures put in place to respond to the historic temperatures had “held up well.”

He said the first air conditioners ordered for hospitals would be delivered “at the end of the week, or at the beginning of next week.”

“It is an absolute priority for us, in the event of a recurrence of the phenomenon, to have a hospital situation that is much more manageable,” he said.

But Greens leader Marine Tondelier painted a different picture, pointing to shortages of ice in emergency departments to treat cases of hyperthermia.

“Healthcare workers and emergency services personnel had to be urgently recalled and worked under deplorable conditions,” she said on X on Sunday.

“We must shed full light on the very heavy human toll to come in order to determine the political responsibilities that led to this dramatic situation. Some will have to face the consequences.”

The daily Le Monde said that, even as authorities defended their environmental record, millions of French people were left to fend for themselves in the sweltering heat at home, in schools, in hospitals, and at their workplaces.

“The thousand deaths caused by the heatwave have so far not prompted any message of compassion from either the prime minister or the head of state,” the newspaper said.

A collective of activists and housing aid associations launched a petition calling for the right to suspend rent payments in homes lacking sun protection and ventilation.

“Faced with the inaction of successive governments and the media’s disregard for the millions of us who will suffer and die from heat in our homes without any means to protect ourselves, the time has come to raise our voices,” said the petition, which has so far gathered around 4,000 signatures.