NEW DELHI, May 18: The Indian capital was on Saturday one of the hottest place in the country as the death toll from a blistering heatwave neared 700, with hundreds more suffering sunstroke, officials and reports said.

News agencies reported seven more heat deaths in Haryana and East Punjab and one in Gujarat, taking to 699 the toll from the scorching heatwave that settled over India in the first week of this month.

Temperatures in New Delhi soared to 46 degrees Celsius on Saturday, triggering massive blackouts and water shortages.

Police reported sporadic rioting overnight in parts of the national capital of 14 million where irate residents took to the streets after rolling power breakdowns.

A report from Orissa said as many as 171 people were hospitalized with sunstroke on Saturday, while Delhi hospitals too said people with similar symtoms were streaming in for emergency help.

The scorcher has claimed 622 lives in Andhra Pradesh alone, despite rains on Friday.

Large swathes of northern, central and western India have also been reeling under blistering temperatures.—AFP