Two boys, aged eight and 10, have been found dead after being allegedly left to sleep in a car parked at a British air base in Cyprus. Authorities discovered the children trapped in a hot vehicle in the British overseas territory of Dhekelia, located on the southeast of the island.
Details of the Incident
The children were believed to have been playing while locked in their mother's car and appeared to have died from suffocation and heat burns from exposure to the sun, according to the Cyprus Mail. Police were alerted by a local resident that the boys were stuck in the car. Rescuers broke into the vehicle through its windows and rushed the children to hospital, where they were confirmed dead.
British officers have arrested the boys' father and stepmother, aged 30 and 34, on suspicion of negligence. They are due to appear in court today at 11 am local time. According to Giorgos Loulianos, the leader of the Xylophafou community, the boys had come to Cyprus to see their parents, who work at the RAF base.
Context of the European Heatwave
The incident is the latest in a major heatwave that saw multiple European countries scorching in 40°C temperatures. An 18-month-old baby was among four dead in France after emergency services were overwhelmed with call-outs during the searing heat. Earlier in the week, two children aged two and four died after they were left in a car by their mother. French officials confirmed another 1,000 elderly and ill people had died due to the extreme heat since June 24, with most of the additional fatalities aged 65 and above.
Last week, London Ambulance Service said it had taken a record number of emergency calls on Wednesday. The World Health Organization (WHO) warned that Europe was heating twice as fast as anywhere else on the planet. Its director-general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said that 'once-in-a-generation' heatwaves were now annual phenomena due to climate change.
Global Impact of Extreme Heat
He wrote on X: 'Right now 150 million people are living under extreme heat, hundreds have died, schools are shut, grids are buckling. More than 1,300 excess deaths have been recorded since 21 June linked to high temperatures in Europe. Heat stress is often called the 'silent killer' – and European homes, workplaces and schools were not built for these temperatures.'
Following a brief respite from the intense heat for most this week, soaring temperatures are set to soon return to the UK.
