Fourteen patients in an intensive care unit in the southern Indian city of Chennai have died, taking the death toll in rain-related incidents to 325.
Water had entered the basement of the private hospital, causing disruptions to generators, ventilators and other life support equipment, NDTV reported on Friday.
Besides the 14 who died in the hospital, another 35 bodies were found as the water receded. The other deaths were mostly due to electrocution and drowning. Post mortems are being carried out, a senior official was quoted as saying.
There were power outages in several parts of Tamil Nadu's capital after heavy rains that have been going on since Tuesday caused rivers and tanks to overflow and flood the city.
At least two bouts of unusually heavy rain since November 1 have led to 325 deaths in Tamil Nadu, IANS news agency reported. The death toll is expected to go up as the waters recede and more bodies are found.
After a 24-hour respite it was raining again in Chennai on Friday afternoon.
The National Disaster Response Force, as well as the Indian Army, Navy and Air Force and local government departments were all engaged in relief and rescue work as huge swathes of Chennai and its suburbs remained waterlogged with no electricity, food or drinking water supplies.
More than 10,000 people had been rescued but many were still marooned, NDTV news channel reported.
Chennai's main airport has been closed since Tuesday but seven flights had been arranged from a naval base at Arakkonam on the outskirts of Chennai to fly out stranded passengers, the government said.
The city, a hub in one of the most industrialised regions in India, is still largely cut off from the rest of the country with air, road and rail transport services suspended.
Prices of increasingly scarce foods like milk and vegetables have skyrocketed, NDTV news channel reported.
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