Overview
- The parents were detained Monday and have been formally accused of privation of care after their 15‑month‑old twin daughters were found unconscious in their beds and later declared dead.
- Prosecutors ordered autopsies to establish the precise cause of death and to test the hypothesis that high indoor temperatures and dehydration played a role.
- The couple's four other children, aged 3 to 6, were treated in hospital for dehydration and are reported stable and not in life‑threatening condition.
- Investigators sealed the family's home with judicial marks while the Valenciennes prosecutor opens a formal inquiry and collects forensic and witness evidence.
- The case comes during an unprecedented European heat wave that public health authorities say exposed roughly 150 million people to extreme heat and has strained French hospitals and funeral services, raising questions about heat risks for vulnerable people.