APD | Heat wave kills 1,500, French minister says

By APD writer Aditya Nugraha

Some 1,500 one were killed during summer’s heat wave in France, Health Minister Agnes Buzyn said on Sunday.

Speaking in France’s Inter radio, the minister said there were over 1,000 more deaths that the annual average for the time of the year. Half of those were aged over 75. Eighteen days of recorded heat wave in France have occurred in June and July this year, she said.

A campaign of public awareness has saved many lives during that heat wave period, she added.

The death figure in the period represented many fewer deaths than the scorching heat wave in 2003 that claimed 15,000 lives, she added.

(ASIA PACIFIC DAILY)