French soccer player drowns in the Rhone River as France swelters in a heat wave

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PARIS (AP) — A 21-year-old French soccer player with a second-division club has died after drowning during the heat wave that has gripped France.

Kenzo Kies, who played for the Guingamp reserve team, died after being pulled from the Rhone River this week. Both Guingamp and Saint-Etienne, where Kies spent seven years in the club's academy system, paid him a tribute in statements late Wednesday.

France recorded its hottest ever day for the second day running on Wednesday. The Meteo France weather agency said the national thermal indicator — an average of temperatures measured at 30 weather stations — hit a new record of 30 C (86 F), the latest in a series of never-before-registered highs. The mercury surpassed 40 C (104 F) in some locations, including in Paris.

At least 40 fatalities from drowning have been recorded in the past week as people seek relief in rivers and other bodies of water, despite authorities’ warnings about unsupervised swimming. Most of the drownings involved young people, Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu said on Tuesday.

According to reports in French media, Kies was pulled from the Rhone River on Monday in critical condition after drowning in a prohibited swimming area near Lyon. He had since been declared brain dead.

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