Multiple deaths reported across France amid severe heat wave

Multiple deaths were reported across France on Thursday as the country continued to grapple with a severe heat wave that affected much of the country in recent days.

French broadcaster BFMTV, citing police sources, said two people died Wednesday, likely in connection with the high temperatures.

A 69-year-old man suffered a medical emergency on a street in Angers, in the Maine-et-Loire department, and died while being transported to a hospital. A 91-year-old woman also died at her home in the commune of L'Hopital in the Moselle department, according to the broadcaster.

In the Pas-de-Calais department, the prefecture said late Wednesday that three people died at home in cases in which the heat wave may have been a contributing factor.

Authorities said the victims included a man carrying out outdoor work and two people with underlying medical conditions.

Separately, Jean-Francois Cibien, vice president of Samu-Urgence de France, an association representing France's emergency medical services, told BFMTV that a patient died in a hospital room, reportedly because of the heat, but did not specify the location.

"There is something happening in terms of mortality," Cibien said.

"For the first time, we are seeing deaths occurring in hospital rooms because of extreme temperatures," he added.

BFMTV also reported, citing local sources, that emergency responders treated more than 25 cardiac arrests across the inner suburbs of Paris overnight, compared with a usual average of fewer than five cases per night.