By IANS
New Delhi : At least 14 people died Monday due sunstroke in the Indian capital taking the toll since Sunday to 28, as the relentless heat wave continued across north India.
"At least three people died in the Deen Dayal Upadhayay (DDU) hospital today. All the three were men and two of them apparently were rickshaw pullers," said Dinesh, in charge of the DDU police chowki.
"They were from Tilak Nagar, Janakpuri and Dabri," he told IANS.
K.K. Aggarwal, chief of the private Moolchand Hospital said that two people succumbed to the excessive heat.
"Two patients succumbed to sunstroke today. Some more are under treatment for heat-related problems at our hospital," Aggarwal said.
Police officials said they recovered nine bodies from various neighbourhoods of south Delhi – three from Lajpat Nagar, two from Kalkaji, one each from Okhla, Badarpur, Sangam Vihar and Srinivaspuri.
However, only three of them could be identified: G.L. Mehta, 70, from Lajpat Nagar, Rajesh, 28, from Okhla, and Ram Babu, 42, from Badarpur.
On Sunday at least 14 people including eight from the Bara Hindu Rao hospital had died due to sunstroke.
On Monday, the capital recorded a maximum temperature of 41.1 degrees Celsius – three degrees lower than the 44 degrees recorded Sunday. But this offered no respite to hapless residents as the humidity level jumped from 50 percent Sunday to 73 percent.
On Saturday, Delhi had recorded a maximum of 44.9 degrees Celsius, highest of the year so far.
Meanwhile, the DDU hospital reported over 60 cases of gastroenteritis and 20 more were reported from the Bara Hindu Rao hospital. Most hospitals in the city have recorded a 30 to 40 percent rise in the cases of stomach and intestine related problems.