Chennai: A major power crisis has hit the rain-struck state of Tamil Nadu where 18 people lost their lives after being admitted to the Madras Institute of Orthopaedics and Traumatology (MIOT) in a critical condition.

"The MIOT Hospital was treating around 575 patients when the floods began. 75 of them were on the ventilator at the time, and 18 patients have now died due to unclear reasons. We managed to shift 57 of those critical patients to different hospitals," Tamil Nadu Health Secretary J. Radhakrishnan said.