Death Toll From India’s Heat Wave Reaches 622

The death toll from a heat wave in the southeastern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh climbed to 622 Thursday, even as rain fell in some areas, officials said.

Officials said more deaths had been reported in remote coastal districts. Most were of people admitted to a hospital after suffering sunstroke in the last week.

The heat wave is the worst in four years and comes ahead of the annual monsoon rain that usually hits the coast of the southwestern state of Kerala in June and spreads across the rest of the country over the following three months.

Officials said temperatures, which reached a peak of 118 degrees in the worst-affected areas, had fallen in the preceding two days because of the rain, the first since March.

“I have seen many summers, but nothing like this year,” said Bheemudu, 44, a rickshaw puller in Vijaywada who uses only one name. “When the hot wind hit my face, I felt as if I was set on fire.”