A couple in their 30s were arrested on Monday after the deaths of their 15-month-old twin daughters in the town of Bevraz, near Valenciennes in northern France. According to a preliminary investigation, the deaths of the two infants were attributed to dehydration.

The couple's four other children - aged 3, 4, 5 and 6 - were taken to hospital with symptoms of dehydration, but their lives are not in danger, according to information transmitted by the French News Agency (AFP).

The parents called emergency services at around 13:00 p.m. (local time, 14:00 p.m. in Greece) “after finding their twin daughters, aged 15 months, dead in their beds,” according to the prosecutor’s office. An investigation has been launched against them for “exposing a minor under 15 to danger, leading to death.”

The coroner's report is expected to shed light on the exact cause of death on Tuesday, with the prosecutor's office saying that "the possibility of dehydration due to the high temperature recorded in the room is being investigated in particular."

The door to the family's home in the small town near Valenciennes has been locked by police. Mayor Ali Ben Yahia said the family had recently moved there. The parents, aged 35 and 32, had no serious criminal record, nor were they under the supervision of social services, according to the prosecutor's office.

In previous days, France had faced an extreme heat wave, which began to subside on Sunday.

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