Fourteen people, including 10 polling personnel, have died due to heatstroke in Bihar in the last 24 hours, officials said on Friday afternoon.

In a statement, the Disaster Management Department said that most of the fatalities were reported from Bhojpur district, where five officials on election duty died of heatstroke.

Three election officials died in Rohtas, and one each died in Kaimur and Aurangabad districts, it said. Four other people died in different parts of the state, it added.

The process of granting ex-gratia to the families of the deceased has been initiated, said the statement.

The state is reeling under sizzling heat as the mercury crossed 43° Celsius at several places. On Friday, Aurangabad was the hottest at 44 °C.

Due to the heatwave conditions, all schools, coaching institutes and anganwadi centres have been shut till June 8.

Chief minister Nitish Kumar directed all DMs to take preventative measures to tackle the situation.

Kumar instructed that arrangements should be made at every level for the safety of common people across the state, according to a statement issued by the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO).