There was no let up in the rains in Andhra Pradesh on Thursday which have been wreaking havoc across the state for the last three days. The government put the death toll in floods, house collapses and lightening strikes at 48.

Revenue Minister Dharmana Prasad Rao said 29 persons were either swept away by flooded rivers and streams, or died in house collapse, 19 were killed by lightning.

Overflowing rivers left about 50 villages under water, and authorities evacuated some 20,000 people from low-lying areas to relief camps.

The Met Department forecast that rains would continue in the state as the depression in the Bay of Bengal, lying off the Andhra coast near Kakinada, was stationary and that under its influence rains would continue for another 36 hours.