India's swine flu toll rises to 14

Three people, including a woman, died of swine flu in Maharashtra on Wednesday, officials said. With these deaths, the toll due to the viral disease has risen to 10 in the state and 14 in the country.

Sanjay Mistry, 35, died in the Sassoon Hospital here early Wednesday. The resident of Pimpri, near Pune, was hospitalised Sunday in a critical condition and put on a ventilator, according to an official of the State Swine Flu Control Room.

Barely hours after Mistry succumbed to the influenza A (H1N1) infection, Shravani Deshpande, 29, died of the same disease.

Deshpande breathed her last around 3 am. She had been hospitalised here three days ago with pneumonia and later found to be suffering from swine flu. She was then put on ventilator.

Rakesh Gangurde, a medico in Nashik Civil Hospital, also succumbed to swine flu around 3 am, said civil surgeon AD Bhal Singh.

Gangurde was admitted to hospital in an unconscious state two days ago and put on a ventilator. The test report confirming that he had swine flu was received by the hospital late Tuesday night.

Earlier, five people in Pune, two in Mumbai, two in Gujarat, one each in Tamil Nadu and Kerala had died of swine flu.