The Minister of Sports and Youth Marina Ferrari announced Wednesday July 15 on France 2 that 142 people had died by drowning since June 19, while France is experiencing its third episode of intense heat.
The latest report from the authorities showed 139 deaths by drowning over the same period, an “increase of more than 18%”, Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said on Sunday.
“The latest report, which deserves to be consolidated, shows 142 deaths since June 19. This shows that the situation is worrying, since we are well above what we experienced last year,” indicated Marina Ferrari.
The increase in these deaths compared to last year is “also to be correlated with the extreme heat which makes people look for water to cool off”.
“What is worrying is that more than 55% of these drownings take place in swimming places that are neither authorized nor supervised. I call on everyone’s responsibility, we could avoid these accidents,” added the Minister of Sports.
During the summer of 2025, 409 people died by drowning in France, an increase of 16% compared to 2024, according to Public Health France. Among the victims were 57 children and adolescents.
