French heatwave: three-year-old found dead in car

By Serge Duchêne with AFP

Published on 25/06/2026 - 19:12 GMT+2

A three-year-old boy has died after becoming trapped in a family car in Saint-Gratien, in the Val-d'Oise département north of Paris, as France swelters in record-breaking heat - the third such death this week, the Pontoise public prosecutor announced on Thursday.

The child had climbed into the car while his father believed he was napping. He was unable to get out because the child lock was engaged, the prosecutor's office confirmed, corroborating information from police and emergency services.

Public prosecutor Guirec Le Bras said the boy's parents and firefighters attempted to resuscitate him without success.

His mother had been sleeping with the couple's second child, aged 18 months, while the father worked in a garden shed, Le Bras added, citing the early findings of the investigation. The father had told his son to take a nap, but the boy was out of his parents' sight for at least 45 minutes before climbing into the unlocked car, whose child lock was nonetheless activated.

"He apparently shut himself in and became trapped in the vehicle before being found unconscious by his parents," the magistrate said.

The boy's mother was taken to hospital in a state of shock.

It is the latest in a series of child deaths linked to vehicles in extreme heat. On Monday, the bodies of two children aged two and four were discovered in a family car in a residential car park in Carpentras, in southern France. The pair are believed to have slipped away from their mother's supervision and become trapped inside.

Wednesday was France's hottest day since records began in 1947, with a national average temperature of 30°C. In Paris, the mercury reached 40.3°C - the fourth time in 150 years the capital has exceeded that threshold.

The exceptional heatwave continued on Thursday, with 72 départements on red alert and 17 on orange alert. Around 63 million people were expected to face temperatures above 30°C, according to AFP estimates, after France recorded its hottest night ever. Meteorological services have warned the heatwave — which began last week — could rival the catastrophic 2003 episode, which caused nearly 15,000 deaths nationwide.

The total number of heat-related deaths since last week remains uncertain.

Earlier on Thursday, Paris's first deputy mayor Emmanuel Grégoire reported a rise in mortality in the capital, without providing exact figures. "I am solemnly calling on people to be careful for their own sake," he said, urging residents to stay out of the sun and avoid going outdoors during the hottest parts of the day.

The extreme temperatures are making it increasingly difficult for millions of people to keep their homes cool. The government estimates one in three French homes is ill-suited to extreme heat, prompting talk of a divide between "a France of fans and a France of air conditioners." Thousands of primary schools across the country have been forced to close, shorten their hours or adapt end-of-year exams.