Indian heatwave toll tops 2,200

Scattered rain yesterday brought much-needed but only temporary relief to parts of India hit by a long heatwave as the death toll from the blistering temperatures crossed 2,200, officials said.

Thunderstorms struck sections of southern states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, which have borne the brunt of the deadliest heatwave in more than two decades, as well as the capital New Delhi.

But the toll continued to climb and the weather bureau warned that temperatures in swathes of southern, western and northern India would hover around 45 degrees Celsius in coming days.

"1,636 people have now died in the Andhra state," P. Tulsi Rani, a top disaster management official, told AFP.

Another 541 people have died in neighbouring Telangana from the heatwave, an official said.

In the eastern state of Orissa, 21 deaths have now been recorded from the heat, with at least another nine deaths reported elsewhere in the country, the Press Trust of India news agency reported.

Hundreds of mainly poor people die at the height of summer every year in India, but this year's figures are already the highest since 1995 when official Indian data showed 1,677 people succumbed to the heat.

Experts point to record high temperatures this year over a longer period than usual.