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France orders heat-deaths inquiry
PARIS, France -- France is to hold an inquiry into its heat wave deaths as the country's leading funeral company estimated the 10 days of desert temperatures possibly killed more than 10,000 people. The government has blamed as many as 5,000 deaths on the heat wave, and criticism that officials were too slow to react prompted the surgeon general to quit. The leftist opposition is demanding that the health minister also resign, and that there be a parliamentary inquiry into what went wrong as temperatures reached 40 degrees Centigrade (104 degrees Fahrenheit) during the first two weeks of August. (Full Story) Health Minister Jean-Francois Mattei, at the request of Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin, ordered health officials to conduct an "estimate of mortality linked to the heat wave," said a statement by the Health Ministry. The probe by the National Institute of Science and Medical Research, the National Institute of Health Oversight and other agencies, is to produce its initial conclusions within a month, the statement said. French President Jacques Chirac will hold a Cabinet meeting on Thursday to be briefed on the government's handling of the crisis, his office said in a statement. Meanwhile, General Funeral Services (PFG) said it estimated the number of deaths nationwide during the heat wave to be 10,400. PFG and its sister company, Roblot, were handling 2,600 deaths over the norm for the first three weeks of August, and the companies account for 25 percent of the country's funeral services, Dominique Dissard, the group's executive vice president, told CNN. Earlier this week he had estimated there would be as many as 7,000 heat wave deaths. Dissard cautioned that it was not clear if all the deaths over the norm were attributed to the heat wave. But he also estimated the total number of extra deaths for the month of August could reach 13,600 nationwide. The government has cautioned that even the 5,000 estimate of heat wave deaths has yet to be confirmed. Victims were mainly elderly, and many were found at home alone as the traditional August holiday exodus leaves city centers deserted. Though the weather has cooled, hospitals remain on alert amid fears of a new spike in temperatures. Meanwhile, in Italy the public-advocacy group Codacons called for a government inquiry into heat-related deaths in that country. The Italian Health Ministry has refused to release any official figures on deaths, but Codacons say the number could be in the thousands. Italian newspaper put the heat-related deaths at 2,000. -- CNN Correspondent Chris Burns contributed to this report Copyright 2003 CNN. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Associated Press contributed to this report.
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