FRANCE: French Prime Minister Mr Jean-Pierre Raffarin defended his government's handling of a heatwave amid reports that the final death-toll could hit 5,000, far higher than the 3,000 victims registered so far.
In an interview with the weekly newspaper Le Journal du Dimanche published yesterday, the conservative premier said he was "appalled" by calls by opposition socialists and greens for the resignation of his health minister, Mr Jean-Francois Mattei.
"All of this is ridiculous. Politics is not a permanent settlement of scores. Faced with such human tragedies, the time is for solidarity, not for sterile polemic," he said.
The newspaper quoted unnamed sources at the Health Ministry as saying the death-toll since July 25th, previously estimated at 3,000, could rise to 5,000 when the government unveils final figures next week.
Mr Mattei said, after visiting emergency health workers yesterday, that he was not aware of these numbers and the death-toll would probably be at the high end of the government's forecast range of 1,600-3,000.
Victims were mainly elderly people with heat-related conditions, such as hyperthermia and dehydration. Many were found at home alone as the traditional August holiday exodus leaves city centres deserted.
Mr Raffarin cut short his vacation for an emergency meeting last Thursday to tackle the crisis after temperatures topped 40 degrees Celsius in parts of the country.
The government recalled medical staff from holidays under an emergency plan designed to deal with terrorist attacks, natural disasters or epidemics. Though the weather has cooled, hospitals remain on alert, amid fears of a new spike in temperatures.
As morgues and funeral parlours struggled to cope with an overflow of victims, health authorities took over a disused storeroom at a farmers' market on the outskirts of Paris where several hundred bodies lay awaiting burial.
Despite a reputation for one of the world's best health services, France was caught unprepared for the heatwave. "Is this the result of a war? An earthquake? No, the consequence of the heatwave of the summer of 2003," Le Journal du Dimanche said in an editorial.
France's neighbouring countries have also been experiencing a heatwave, but comparable high death-tolls have not been announced.
Germany and Italy have not issued figures on deaths, saying such figures are difficult to come by, because heat may be just one factor contributing to a death.
If the preliminary French figures hold up, the heat-related death-toll would be among the highest in recent years, officials at the World Health Organisation in Geneva said.
About 2,600 heat-related deaths were recorded in India five years ago, and 500 people died from heat-related causes in 1995 in Chicago, according to WHO experts.
"I was surprised that the number (in France) was so large," said WHO climate change expert Mr Carlos Corvalan, adding that the figure "any way you cut it - is too many deaths from a heatwave".