Officials in Louisiana Tuesday blamed Hurricane Gustav for at least seven deaths after it struck the US coast, bringing the toll for the storm to more than 100 dead after it smashed through the Caribbean.
Officials quoted by US media said four people had died in accidents during evacuations and three critically ill hospital patients perished as they were transferred from local medical centers.
Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal described the reports of the dead patients as "unconfirmed."
CNN reported on its website that the critically ill patients had died while waiting for air ambulances to evacuate them from southern Louisiana, citing Richard Zuschlag, chairman and CEO of Acadian Ambulance.
Gustav, which weakened to a tropical storm as it passed west of New Orleans Monday, killed 77 in Haiti, authorities in Port-au-Prince said Monday. The death toll for the storm in the Caribbean came to 96.
US television network MSNBC later reported eight people had died in Louisiana, citing local officials.
Gustav pounded the US Gulf Coast with heavy rain and wind on Monday, but the partially rebuilt levees in New Orleans appeared to be holding almost three years to the day after Hurricane Katrina swamped the city and left some 1,800 dead in the region.
