Two young boys tragically lost their lives in a car during the extreme heatwave in France. The boys, identified as Kassim Benouali, aged four, and his two-year-old brother Sadek, experienced cardiac arrests as they were confined in a car where temperatures reportedly soared to 70C.
Their mother, Wafa El Boubkari, found them unresponsive in the car after returning from a swimming outing and a trip to the supermarket in Bois de l’Ubac, Carpentras. Initially, prosecutors indicated that the children had locked themselves in the vehicle without their mother’s knowledge. However, Ms. Boubkari later informed the police that she had forgotten about her children, providing conflicting accounts of the events.
In a revised statement, the mother clarified that the children entered the car without her noticing, locked themselves in, and got trapped inside without her awareness. This led to a manslaughter investigation being initiated. The incident, where temperatures inside the car could have surged to 70C without air conditioning, has deeply shocked the nation.
Living with her mother at the time following a separation from her husband, Ms. Boubkari, who has two other children under 10 years old, faced immense tragedy. The boys’ grandmother described the day of the incident, highlighting that it was a genuine mistake due to the heat and the mother’s busy schedule.
The two boys were discovered in a white Peugeot at around 1pm in cardiac arrest, and despite efforts by emergency services, they could not be revived. A preliminary postmortem revealed that the cause of death was dehydration from excessive heat exposure. The boys were laid to rest in a funeral at Carpentras Mosque.
Ms. Boubkari, who was hospitalized due to shock, received support from colleagues who described her as a dedicated and hardworking mother. The pain and grief she is enduring are unimaginable, and sympathies pour in for the tragic loss she has experienced.