A mother has been charged with involuntary manslaughter after her two young sons were found dead in a sweltering car in southern France, with investigators citing multiple conflicting accounts of how the tragedy occurred.
Boys found dead in 40C heat
The boys, aged 4 and 2, suffered heart attacks in temperatures reaching 40C in Carpentras on Monday afternoon. Emergency services were called around 1:10 pm, but efforts to revive them failed, according to local media.
Prosecutor Hélène Mourges opened a preliminary inquiry into unintentional manslaughter. Initially, reports suggested the children had locked themselves inside the vehicle without their mother's knowledge.
Mother's shifting statements
French daily Le Parisien reported, citing a police source, that the mother later claimed she had "forgotten her children" while shopping. A source close to the investigation told AFP that she gave police several different versions of events.
In her revised statement, the mother said the children got into the car without her knowledge, locked the doors, and became trapped. According to Le Dauphiné Libéré, the children took advantage of their mother's inattention to go outside and play, then climbed back into the car parked in the driveway before the doors closed. "By the time the mother realised they were gone, it was already too late," the newspaper reported.
Heatwave conditions
Europe is enduring a record-breaking heatwave, with highs exceeding 40C in parts of France. Emergency services and the military have been placed on wildfire alert across the country.
