More than 450 homeless dead on streets of France in 2013

A homeless person sits next to a sign reading “To eat, please help me” in a street in Paris, on Feb. 19, 2014. A total of 453 homeless people died on the streets of France last year, according to a memorial book compiled by campaign group “Les Morts de la Rue” (Dead in the Streets). AFP PHOTO/JOEL SAGET

PARIS—A total of 453 homeless people died on the streets of France last year, according to a memorial book compiled by campaign group “Les Morts de la Rue” (Dead in the Streets).

“Did their lives have to end like that?” the group said Monday in a statement announcing a remembrance ceremony for them in Paris on March 18.

The average age of the homeless dead—some of whom have proved impossible to identify and are included in the book simply as “a man” or “a woman”—was below 50.

Average life expectancy in France is 81.5 years.