France's undertakers said Wednesday there were 10,400 more deaths than usual so far this month, amid claims that thousands of people may have died from the effects of a heatwave that hit Europe.The Pompes Funebres Generales (PFG), the main group of undertakers which has 25 percent of France's funeral market, said the figure was in comparison to the same August period in previous years.
French Health Minister Jean-Francois Mattei said Monday that it was "plausible" that the number of deaths linked to the heatwave could be around 5,000, but added that more precise figures would be known in the next few weeks.
His office on Wednesday refused to confirm the undertakers' figures, saying "only a scientific tally... will allow us to know exactly how many deaths were linked to the heatwave."
Patrick Pelloux, the head of an emergency room doctors' union who first raised the alarm over the number of dead, said: "If the PFG's figures turn out to be right, this is a humanitarian catastrophe, a major crisis for our country."
The deadly heatwave, which roasted France for the first two weeks of August, claimed mostly elderly victims unable to cope with the 40-degrees-Celsius (104-degrees-Fahrenheit) temperatures.
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