Public prosecutors in France’s northeastern Champagne region are investigating the deaths of at least four grape-pickers who died while working in extreme heat, according to local media reports.
One casualty was a 19-year-old seasonal worker in the Reims region, who died last Friday as the temperature climbed to at least 32 degrees Celsius in the shade, France Bleu Champagne-Ardenne reported, as France was hit by a late summer heat wave that led to record temperatures across the country in early September.
“With climate change, the situation is bound to get worse,” Anthony Smith, union representative at the French Labor Ministry, told radio broadcaster RMC. “In France, labor inspectors don’t have the power to stop an activity during severe heat or heat waves.”
Around 120,000 seasonal workers head to the Champagne region every year at the end of the summer to pick the grapes used to produce the iconic French bubbly.
Another two workers died while harvesting grapes in the southern Rhône valley, including one of suspected heat stroke, local news website Actu.fr reported.
The French authorities had issued a warning in late August advising grape-pickers in France’s south to start work early in the morning to avoid the worst temperatures.
“To grow enough food, it is necessary to adapt the schedules … and at the same time continue to produce in conditions which are necessarily somewhat degraded,” Agriculture Minister Marc Fesneau said.
