40 drown in France diving into reservoirs, canals to escape sizzling heat
A FATAL ESCAPE: Fleeing an unprecedented June heat dome, desperate people in France are leaping into reservoirs and canals for relief—and drowning. The situation is no better in Spain, Italy, and the UK.
France is among the hardest hit as a severe early-summer heatwave, driven by an "Omega block" weather pattern trapping hot Saharan air, is sweeping across western and central Europe. June 23, 2026, was the country's hottest single day since records began in 1947, for June. The town of Pissos in southwestern France registered a blistering peak of 44.3 deg C, while major hubs like Bordeaux hit 42.5 deg C and Nantes reached 42.1 deg C.
PARIS, Jun 24 (INS): The worst hit by the unusual heatwave in June in Europe
are France, Spain, Italy and UK where red and amber heat alerts are active.
In Les Herbiers in the southwest of France temperatures reached 43 deg Celsius
(109 deg Fahrenheit) on Tuesday. Meanwhile, the Red Cross has warned the next
few days pose “serious health risks” for Europe.
At many places in Europe it is the hottest in nearly 100 years. Spain is cooking
while London is no better. Over 40 people have drowned jumping into reservoirs
and rivers to escape the unusual June heat in France. There were other health-elated
fatalities also.
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France is among the hardest hit as a severe early-summer heatwave, driven by
an "Omega block" weather pattern trapping hot Saharan air, is sweeping across
western and central Europe.
France registered its hottest June day on record, averaging 29.8 C, with cities
like Bordeaux soaring past 41°C, on Tuesday.
Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu reported 40 drowning deaths in France since
June 18, many of whom were young people. Additionally, several elderly people
have died from heat-related health complications.
France's sports minister Marina Ferrari has warned against people rushing to
reservoirs and rivers to escape the soaring temperatures. More than half the
country is on red alert.
The Louvre in Paris, the world famous museum, said it would close two hours
early at 4 pm local time (14:00 GMT) from Wednesday to Saturday. It said, “it
is at the end of the day that heat builds up most." The Eiffel Tower also would
close at 4 pm.
Temperature will be around 43 deg C this week in many areas of Spain. Several
places have been put on alert. The risk of wildfires is anticipated. Red alerts
are in Andalusia in the south and Cantabria and the Basque Country in the north,
third day running.
San Sebastian in the cooler north was set to reach 40 deg C (104 deg F), more
than double the city’s historic average.
In Italy, red heatwave alert has been declared in 15 cities, including Rome,
Milan, Florence, Turin and Venice. Even healthy adults are at health risk.
Britain’s Met Office warned on Monday that a four-day heatwave could push temperatures
above 39 deg C (102 deg F) in parts of the country, breaking the June records
of 35.6 deg C (96 deg F) set in 1957 and 1976.
Many schools remained closed on Tuesday in England.
The heatwave was driven by an “Omega block” weather pattern, named for its
resemblance to the shape of the Greek letter.
Where it's deadly:
Specific locations reported by French authorities and emergency services include:
The Canal Saint-Martin: Dozens of locals and young crowds in Paris have
been diving directly into this urban waterway to avoid their sizzling apartments.
The River Seine: Fatal incidents have occurred in major rivers, including
a tragic drowning of a 13-year-old girl swimming in the Seine at Fontaine-le-Port.
The Trocadero Fountains: While not resulting in the drowning figures,
massive crowds have packed the fountains directly adjacent to the Eiffel Tower
to submerge themselves.
Unsupervised regional reservoirs and lakes: The vast majority of the
40+ drownings tracked by Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu's office occurred
in rural or semi-urban reservoirs and lakes lacking active lifeguard supervision
When it's deadly:
Thermal shock: Entering cold water too quickly while the body is overheated
can cause immediate hydrocution (cardiac arrest or sudden gasping that leads
to water inhalation).
Hidden currents: Canals and rivers have strong undercurrents and sudden
depth drops that quickly overwhelm even strong swimmers.
Lack of lifeguards: Because these are unauthorized swimming zones, there
is no immediate first-responder presence to rescue struggling individuals.
What is Omega block: It is is a slow-moving, large-scale atmospheric
weather pattern named because the jet stream bends into a shape resembling the
uppercase Greek letter Omega (O). It traps a massive dome of high pressure between
two low-pressure systems, causing persistent heatwaves in some areas and continuous
rain in others.
The preliminary probe report claims both the fuel control switches were in ‘CUT OFF’ mode moments after lift-off (FADEC may be set to register like that). But the switches are mounted on the centre pedestal, between the seats of the captain and the first officer at arm's length. Who can switch it off? Transitioning is a two-stage manual procedure and that makes a clicking sound also. Not one, both switches! The switches are so protected by multiple layers of physical and procedural safeguards and guarded by metal brackets for a third party to meddle with easily. The cockpit is locked during takeoff. They are handled only for start and after landing, also in emergencies. Is it possible that the pilot just missed to put the switch to RUN while on the runway and the aircraft, a good one, was running on residual fuel? Which it can do for 20 to 40 seconds. The Air India flight stalled after 32 seconds of passing the Go/NoGo point.
(Soon after the videos came into public domain, the next day of the crash, our aviation expert had stated in these columns, the crash had something to do with the fuel line.)
(Soon we will put together another diverse discourse with experts to dispel any nagging doubts surrounding aviation dynamics that are stirring curious minds in the current context.)
TRUMP: "We'll have to take a look. We might have to put DOGE on Elon. You know
what DOGE is? The monster that might have to go back and eat Elon. Wouldn’t
that be terrible? He gets a lot of subsidies (Tesla and SpaceX)." Nobody on
earth ever got so much of Government subsidies as Musk, The New Trump declared
audaciously when the 'Beautifiul Bill' that scraps Tesla subsidies made its
entry into the Capitol. Musk knew the Bill spelt his death knell...
The incident has triggered a debate on social media whether the officer refused to take orders from a party leader or he was accused of any corruption, some netizens justifying the handling in either case, that Ratnakar was blocking public welfare work! It is true the Govt machinery has been the enemy Number One of the people of this country, existing for itself and for these politicians, for well over seven decades. India will never make an inch of progress - real progress, not make-believe-progress - unless and until this machinery is eliminated.
ANALYSIS: There have been cases of Britons going to Switzerland to get rid of a miserable life. Now once the House of Lords also passes the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, terminally ill Britons can call it quits with the help of a medical practitioner here itself. But the measure when comes into practice, will have very serious social consequences, it is feared. There won't be comparisons, even as tropes in Latin American folklores. The worst case scenario is of those who are not terminally ill also trying to misuse the provision to leave this world early when life with dignity is not available. But that is, in fact, a political question and not a moral imbroglio!
The CCTV footage and the video circulating on social media do not indicate any serious abnormalities in takeoff or descent, it has been confirmed. The disaster is becoming curiouser and curiouser. The flight path was not curvy. And the aircraft maintained a steady, gliding descent with its nose straight and the wings perfectly level. The pilot's distress call does not specify what prevented lift and climb-out. Here are some expert opinions. The sole purpose is to raise travellers' awareness about air travel.
Many of the victims were charred beyond recognition, making identification difficult. Three hundred nineteen body parts have been sent for DNA matching with relatives to determine the identities.
A comment on social media on Kanimozhi's answer on the question of national language read: "Daughter of Kalaignar M. Karunanidhi. Delivered the Birthday Present to her Father!!" (Karunanidhi was born on June 3, 1924)
(Today's headlines )
Trump said, "Elon is not really leaving" and will be "back and forth" to the White House because DOGE is his "baby." "I think he’s going to be doing a lot of things.”
Musk wrote: "My scheduled time as a Special Government Employee comes to an end... The @DOGE mission will only strengthen over time as it becomes a way of life throughout the government." Now on it will be on auto-pilot.
PROGNOSIS: DOGE was prematurely born to protect the country by aborting an impending socio-economic disaster which very few people could see coming.
Although its immediate job was to save American taxpayers billions by slashing waste, eliminating fraud, cutting Government bloat and ensuring utmost efficiency in administration for the good of the people.
(Today's headlines )
"Coming from a system like in England, empowering," she says she never had an idea of this sort of experience... being asked to “socialise with middle-aged men” who financed the event...humiliating...
Originally from Junagadh, Gujarat, Pataudi was relocated to Etawah Lion Safari in September 2019 before being transferred to Gorakhpur Zoo in 2021. Recently it was receiving treatment for pancreatic and liver infections. After tigress Shakti died in the zoo on May 7 due to bird flu, Pataudi was shifted to Kanpur. Some birds are also reported to have died mysteriously around Gorakhpur. All zoos in UP are closed for fear of a bird flu outbreak.
Three other animals too had died - a tiger, a leopardess and a female wolf. Wolf Bhairavi died last Saturday, leopardess Mona died the Thursday before that and tiger Kesari died on March 30. Some of them had Shakti's symptoms but the cause of death has not been confirmed yet.
As tourist inflow is an indicator of normalcy returning to an erstwhile terrorist infested Valley, the Government has been trying hard to make everything travel-friendly, launching lot many projects and bringing Kashmir on the national rail map that physically completes the process of Kashmir's integration with the rest of India. And that defeats the designs of Pakistan eyeing Kashmir and simply explains a recrudescence of terrorism in J&K.
"It's a big victory not just for Tamil Nadu but for all Indian States. DMK will continue to struggle for and win State autonomy and Federal polity," Chief Minister MK Stalin said.
Of 2.08 km in length, it features 99 spans and a 72.5-metre vertical lift span that rises up to a height of 17 metres, facilitating smooth movement of ships while ensuring seamless train services to the holy town of Rameswaram on Pamban island.
ANALYSIS: There is a lot of hue and cry around the world over Trump's tariffs. But tariff, simply put, is a tax. But unlike tax, it affects the exporting country too. Domestic prices will go up for some time. Nothing more will happen, good or bad!
What motivated Trump's newfound policy, apart from being a stunt to justify his existence in the White House, is a false realisation that increased tariff will make foreign goods prohibitive, thereby boosting local production, and create more jobs, and more prosperity will ring in! If that is true, India would have been shining by now: Producing own Rolls-Royce La Rose Noire Droptail and Scotch Whiskies! And what about coconut and palm oil by America!
(Today's headlines )
PROGNOSIS: It looks a Real New Trump is emerging - courageous, balanced, powerful and disinterested. Determined to save his country from the cliff, he has done quite a few draconian things that will reduce the burden of debts of the Federal entity, like the golden handshake, stopping senseless funding, pulling out of a worthless WHO. Shutting the Education Department is another. On the other hand, running it is also not the Centre's job either (We will convincingly elaborate it in the next chapter).
In India the scene is just the opposite. Centralisation is the core agenda and identity of the ruling dispensation without which it has no existence, or in other words, it exists for that set of schemes only. A realisation of this never dawned upon any Opposition party in 2014 or any time thereafter, what to talk of being able to see it coming 70 years ago! The consequence of all this violation of basic natural law of the universe we cannot predict.
THE AMERICAN CONUNDRUM: Political venom has migrated to top echelons in the US. It was reported last year NASA has become politicised, vitiated. But NASA refuted the charge. How Boeing developed a glitch but its unmanned return was smooth. When Suni-Wilmore were stranded last June, why the return was set for February? Because that comes only after January 20! SpaceX called the shots, for itself and for Trump. Then the mission was manipulated for March for a better bargain! In between, what made Elon Musk 'predict' during campaign if Kamala Harris wins he would be in jail. In politics, it is said, "the only rule is there are no rules." Difficult times for Americans too.
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