BUDAPEST, July 24, 2007 (AFP) - The heatwave in central and southern Europe killed an estimated 500 people in Hungary last week, the country's chief medical officer announced Tuesday.
Ferenc Falus said that during the week from July 15 to July 22 the heat in central Hungary "contributed to the early death of 230 people, which nationally means about 500 deaths".
He added however that the toll could have been worse if it was not for "the hard work of health workers."
Temperatures regularly reached 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit) or more this week, hitting the all-time high of 41.9 degrees Friday in the southern city of Kiskunhalas.
Hungary has been on third-degree heat alert -- the highest level, never before applied in the country -- for a week.
"Calls for ambulances increased by some 30 percent over the past week, but during record high temperatures on Friday, this went up to 50 percent," emergency services spokesman Pal Gyorfi said.
"What we are seeing is that older people are having a tougher and tougher time dealing with the heat," he added.
Fires were reported across Hungary, with firefighters called out 3,000 times in the past week alone to quell blazes.
This was nearly three times the weekly average of 1,200 calls, Attila Tatar, director of the National Catastrophe Defence Agency, told a press conference in Budapest.
Tatar said no one was injured in the fires.
City officials in Budapest have been distributing thousands of water bottles to help residents battle the heat, while the government has told citizens to stay indoors between 10am and 3pm, preferably in air-conditioned places.
The weather also caused minor delays in the train and tram services, with the punishing heat bending rails in several places.
Parts of the country still experienced 40-degree temperatures Tuesday but the weather was expected to cool down in the coming days.
Meanwhile, across Europe the extreme weather conditions continued.
Britain was experiencing its worst flooding in living memory, while in the Balkans people were warned to stay indoors to avoid searing temperatures with deaths reported in Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, and Romania.
More than 800 people were reported to have fainted in the streets in Romania because of the heat, as temperatures across the region were recorded at 40 degrees and above.
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Received by NewsEdge Insight: 07/24/2007 13:32:54
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