Heat wave ‘hell’ causes death by ‘hydrocution’
The heat wave that has swept through Europe and was likened to “hell” claimed its first lives Wednesday as temperatures surpassed 40 C on several parts of the Continent.
Three swimmers at beaches in France are thought to have died of “hydrocution,” suffering cardiac arrests on coming into contact with cool water due to the temperature difference, according to local reports.
A 70-year-old man died after entering the sea at Marseillant beach, southern France. According to Midi Libre, he was helped and remained “very calm,” but emergency services were unable to resuscitate him when he lost consciousness.
Two other people died in similar circumstances of “thermic shock.”
A woman, 62, died at Frontignan beach near Montpellier after “having a malaise and drowning” and a 75-year-old man died at another beach nearby called Carnon.
French firefighters warned people to enter the water gradually to accustom the body to temperature changes.
In the Baltic region of northeast Europe, crowds have flocked to lakes and rivers to cool down, leading to a spike in drownings — some deaths were also thought to be due to hydrocution.
Twenty-seven people were reported to have drowned so far in Lithuania where the temperature soared to an unusual high of 35.7 C.
Parts of Europe faced the hottest June on record in a heat wave expected to reach its peak Thursday and Friday, as a 3,200-kilometre-wide “Saharan bubble” blew hot air from Africa to Europe.