New Delhi (PTI): The gruelling heat wave continued with its death roll on Tuesday as 17 more casualties were reported from Andhra Pradesh, Orissa and Rajasthan even as welcome showers in some states brought much-needed relief to the people from the scorching sun.

Fourteen persons have died of sun stroke in Andhra Pradesh's Krishna district in the past three days, taking the death toll to 18 in the state, where temperatures have been hovering around 45 degrees Celsius in the past few days, officials said. Unofficial sources, however, put the state's death toll at 97.

The death toll in worst-hit Orissa rose to 21 with two more people perishing even as most parts of the coastal region experienced rain during the afternoon. Sundergarh was hottest at 45 degrees.

In Rajasthan, dust storms followed by hail and thundershowers brought the mercury down even as a man was found dead in capital Jaipur allegedly due to heat wave. Many districts including Alwar, Karauli, Dausa, Sikar, Jaisalmer, Dholpur, Pilani, Sikar, and Churu received light to moderate rains, due to the western disturbances.

A cloud cover hovering over the national capital continued to give Delhiites some respite from the scorching heat even as the maximum temperature rose by over two degree Celsius to settle at 39.3 degrees.

Day temperatures at most places in Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh remained around the normal mark while the went up by three-five degrees across Himachal Pradesh.

Seventy-three people have died across the country since the onset of summer. While 21 people have died in Orissa, Andhra Pradesh has accounted for 18 deaths, Uttar Pradesh 11, West Bengal 10, Jharkhand seven, Gujarat three, Punjab two and Rajasthan one death.