NEW DELHI/HYDERABAD: The death toll in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana due to intense heat wave has risen to 223 on Saturday , officials said."128 people have died in Telangana as per the information received till this evening from various districts," revenue secretary BR Meena told PTI.In Andhra Pradesh , the toll rose to 95 with 15 people succumbing to heat wave across the state, a senior official of disaster management department said.The toll pertains to the period from May 18 till this evening for Andhra Pradesh and from April 15 till this evening for Telangana, the officials said.Hospitals in Telangana reported a heavy rush of inpatients with symptoms of sunstroke even as the Andhra government kept emergency medical teams at standby in all districts. Officials issued warnings to people to not venture out during the day without guarding themselves against the sweltering heat A boy wash his face with cold water to beat the heat. ( TOI photo: Aniruddhasingh Dinore)As the temperature soared past the 45 degrees the India Meteorological Department upgraded the heat wave warning to "severe", and forecast at least three more scorching days in Adilabad, Nizamabad, Karimnagar, Medak, Warangal, Khammam, Rangareddy, Hyderabad, Nalgonda and Mahbubnagar districts of Telangana.This is also the first time ever that so many people have died due to heat wave in such a short span in Telangana and AP — even when they were one entity. With the toll mounting by the day, Telangana and AP governments on Friday reviewed the situation and directed field level officials to take up a massive campaign to advise people on how to save themselves from the high temperatures.(With inputs from agencies)