Europe 1 with AFP 9:56 p.m., September 15, 2021
The Hérault victims, aged between 64 and 73, had gone to bathe on the beaches of Grande-Motte, Agde, Marseillan, Serignan and Vias.
The last two days were marked, in the south of France, by very bad weather.
Seven people died Wednesday in the south of France, including five in Hérault alone, facing a strongly rough sea, AFP learned from firefighters and gendarmes.
In the Hérault, the victims, aged between 64 and 73, had gone to bathe on the beaches of Grande-Motte, Agde, Marseillan, Serignan and Vias.
Seven rescues also took place, detailed the rescue.
This department was still placed on Wednesday orange alert for storms, rains and floods.
In Bouches-du-Rhône, a 58-year-old man died in Cassis and another 71 in La Ciotat, firefighters confirmed after initial information from La Provence, pointing to a "roller phenomenon".
"Dramatic day"
"The weather conditions with the warm sea, large waves that look playful and blown by the wind, coupled with the absence of rain lead to high frequentation of the beaches but do not avoid the danger linked to the currents under sailors along the coast that we do not see ", explained the Hérault firefighters in a message to the press, warning that the weather will be the same Thursday.
"I do not manage to understand how people were able to get into the water when the sea is rough. It is a dramatic day for our region", reacted for his part the mayor of Vias, Jordan Dartier.