France: The French Public Health Agency announced on Friday a preliminary toll of victims of the exceptional heatwave that struck the country last June, indicating that more than 2,000 additional deaths were recorded in a single week.

According to National Iraqi News Agency, French Health Minister St©phane Rest, in an interview with TF1, stated that 2,025 additional deaths were recorded between June 22 and 28, compared to the previous week. She explained that these figures are still preliminary, as they are based on only 60% of electronic death certificates and do not include paper death certificates, meaning the final toll is likely to rise.

She added that "deaths within homes increased by 91% compared to the previous week." This, she said, reflects the suffering of people living alone, and she called for greater efforts to protect those isolated in their homes.