These Universal National Service recruits and Defence Cadets, standing motionless in the sun, could not cope with the intense heat.
According to our colleagues at *Le Parisien*, their caps were not enough. On Wednesday afternoon, in Évreux (Eure), 29 young people serving in the Universal National Service (SNU) or as defence cadets fell ill due to the stifling heat, according to the fire service. “Two or three were more seriously affected, one of whom had to be taken to hospital,” the town’s mayor, Guy Lefrand, said on Wednesday morning on France Bleu Haute-Normandie.
The scene took place on Place du Général-de-Gaulle, during the unveiling of a statue of the first President of the Fifth Republic. The event was held to commemorate the Appeal of 18 June. In addition to the few hundred invited dignitaries, several dozen young volunteers from the SNU and Defence Cadets were present on the steps at the entrance to the town hall, which overlooks the square, according to local media outlet actu.fr. The Eure is one of the thirteen pilot departments for the SNU.