Hyderabad: The heatwave sweeping through Telangana and Andhra Pradesh claimed 90 more lives in the two states, taking the toll to over 800. While 55 people succumbed to sunstroke in Andhra Pradesh, 35 were killed in Telangana.
Andhra Pradesh's deputy chief minister N Chinna Rajappa on Tuesday said 551 people died till Monday while disaster management officials in Telangana confirmed 215 deaths. The deaths reported on Tuesday have not yet been confirmed by officials.
Though there was slight drop in day temperature in Telangana, the state continued to be in the grip of heatwave due to the dry winds from northwesterly direction. The highest temperature of 45-degrees celsius was recorded in Hanamkonda, Khammam, Nalgonda and Ramagundem.
The temperature in most of the Telangana towns was above 42-degrees celsius. The mercury remained two to six degrees above average in the two states. Coastal Andhra continued to reel under severe heatwave conditions. Jangamaheswara Puram in Guntur district sizzled at 47-degrees celsius.
Most places in coastal Andhra recorded above 43-degrees celsius. Parts of Rayalaseema also registered high temperature.
Almost all deaths were reported during last six days. Guntur district bore the brunt with 104 deaths, East Godavari accounted for 90 deaths, Visakhapatnam 84, Vijayanagaram 61, Prakasam 57, Nellore 39, Srikakulam 25, Chittoor 20, Kadapa 13, Anantapur 11 and Kurnool 8.
