No fewer than three children have reportedly died over the past week in two separate incidents amid the ongoing heatwave in the Western European country of France.

The head of the public prosecutor’s office in Pontoise, Guiric Le Bras, announced on Thursday that a third of such incident occurred in Saint-Gratien, in the Val-d’Oise department of Île-de-France region in northern France.

The prosecutor stated that the incident involved a three-year-old boy who died after becoming trapped in his parents’ car.

Mr Le Bras said the boy was unable to get out of the car because the child safety lock was turned active.

The child’s mother was reportedly asleep, while the father was working in the garden at the time of the incident.

The prosecutor stated that the four-year-old victim had initially been instructed to take a nap before moving out of his parents’ sight. 

He said about forty minutes after the instruction, the boy entered into the unlocked car and eventually got trapped inside.

“He apparently shut himself in and became trapped in the vehicle before being found unconscious by his parents,” Mr Le Bras stated.

The victim’s mother was reportedly hospitalised after going into shock following the incident.

Earlier on Monday, the bodies of two children, aged two and four, believed to have wandered out of their mother’s sight, were found in a family car parked in the Bois de l’Ubac area of Carpentras, in southern France.

The public prosecutor in the case, Hélène Mourges, said a post-mortem examination revealed that the youngsters died of dehydration.

“The hypothesis of a death resulting from exposure to excessive heat appeared plausible subject to the results of further analyses currently underway,” the prosecutor in Carpentras stated.

France has been experiencing a severe heatwave, with the national average temperature reaching 30°C on Wednesday, while its capital and largest city, Paris, recorded a temperature of 40.3°C on the same day.

Earlier on Thursday, Paris’s first deputy mayor, Emmanuel Grégoire, cautioned residents against staying outdoors, particularly during the hottest part of the day.

On June 23, the Peoples Gazette reported that French defence minister Sébastien Lecornu disclosed that no fewer than 40 people drowned across France while swimming in unauthorised areas, citing a major heatwave that has continued to affect several parts of Europe.

“The latest figures we’ve received are 40 deaths since 18 June. Most of the victims are young people. We’re experiencing an episode of exceptional intensity. Every day and every night, local and national temperature records are being broken,” the prime minister said.