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Many die of heat in Paris region

PARIS aug. 11. About 50 people have died of heat-related illnesses in the Paris region in the last four days, the head of France's emergency physicians' association said.

Patrick Pelloux, in an interview with TF1 television, criticised France's surgeon-general for characterising the deaths as natural.

``They dare to talk about ... natural deaths. I absolutely do not agree,'' he contended Sunday night. The Health Ministry said they did not have figures on deaths related to the heat that had scorched France and other parts of Europe over the past week. Paris has baked under temperatures at or exceeding 37 degrees Celsius.

But the Ministry said there had been a noticeable increase in hospital visits by elderly people. Paris region hospitals were worst affected and increased the number of beds for urgent cases. The Ministry also appeared to play down claims of a large number of heat-related deaths, saying emergency services have not witnessed a ``massive flood'' of cases.

``Difficulties encountered are comparable to previous years,'' it said in a statement.

Experts, however, said more must be done.

``We are facing a human drama, carnage the like of which doubtless has never been seen in France. Yet the impression given is of radio silence. It makes me want to scream,'' said Jean-Louis San Marco, president of the National Health Prevention and Education Institute, in a newspaper interview.

AP

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