The health authorities call on Friday to respect swimming prohibitions, pointing out the risks linked to not monitored sites, while about 200 people, including 27 children and adolescents, lost their lives by drowning in less than two months in France.
Between June 1 and July 23, 193 deaths by drowning were identified in France and overseas, announces Public Health France, noting that the strong temperatures “led to an influx of the populations to the bathing sites to refresh themselves”.
This represents a leap of 45% compared to the same period last year, when 133 dead had been recorded, details the health agency.
If this increase in deadly drowning concerned all age groups, adolescents are strongly affected: 27 children and adolescents lost their lives in 2025 against 1524, and 30% of drowned young people (13 to 17 years) died, against 13% over the same period last year.
In addition, from June 1 to July 23, observes the health agency, the number of drowns of minors followed by death in rivers has been multiplied by almost four: there are 15 against four in 2024.
Overall, the drownings followed by death were first recorded at sea (79), in front of the rivers (58), the water bodies (30) and the private pools (24).
Thus the risk of drowning during swimming in a natural environment, watercourse, water bodies or sea, when the sites are neither arranged nor monitored “is real and increased in the event of alcohol consumption”, recalls SPF. “The regulations, in particular swimming prohibitions, must be respected whatever the age,” insists the health agency.
These figures confirm in particular the disturbing very strong increase in drowning during the only days of heat wave, pointed at July 11 by SPF in its previous point: from June 19 to July 6, 86 deaths by drowning were recorded against 36 over the same days of 2024, that is to say much more than double.
During this long -up and long heat wave, maximum temperatures exceeded 35 ° C on a large part of the territory, while on the rest of July, high temperatures and rainy passages alternated.
Almost half (47%) of the fatal drownings that occurred since June 1 have taken place in four regions: Provence Alpes-Côte d’Azur, Occitanie, Nouvelle-Aquitaine and Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes.
Posted on August 1 at 12:13 p.m., AFP