Pune/Mumbai/New Delhi, Aug 12 - India's swine flu toll rose to 17 Wednesday as six people succumbed to the H1N1 virus in quick succession in Maharashtra, forcing authorities to shut down educational institutions and public places in Mumbai for a week.

Wednesday saw the highest number of six deaths for a single day since the first victim, Reeda Sheikh, 14, died in Pune Aug 3.

In New Delhi, the health ministry asked the states to take strict action against those hoarding face masks and illegally selling Tamiflu, an anti-influenza drug.

In Maharashtra, where swine flu has claimed 13 lives, the state government was forced to announce closure of all educational establishments in state capital Mumbai for a week from Thursday and multiplexes for three days.

However, offices and malls will remain open, an official clarified.

While five people died due to swine flu in Pune, called the 'epidemic city', the sixth death was reported from Nashik.

The five who died in Pune were Gautam Shelar, a 48-year-old driver, Nita Meghani, 50, Babu Genu Kuland, a school student, Sanjay Mistry, 35, and Shravani Deshpande, 29, a Maharashtra Swine Flu Control Room official said.

They all died at the Sassoon Hospital, which has been handling very serious cases of swine flu in this second largest city of Maharashtra.

Shelar was admitted to the hospital in a critical condition three-four days ago and died around 4.45 p.m. His death came barely an hour after Meghani died.

Babu died in the same hospital at about 11 a.m. A resident of Pimpri town near here, Babu was hospitalised three days ago in a serious condition, according to Pune Municipal Corporation (Health Department) chief S.R. Pardeshi.

Mistry, another Pimpri resident, died in the wee hours of Wednesday. He was hospitalised Sunday in a critical condition and put on ventilator.

Within hours, Deshpande too died of the A(H1N1) influenza around 3 a.m. She had been hospitalised three days ago with pneumonia and later was found to be suffering from swine flu. She was then put on ventilator.

Around the same time, Rakesh Gargunde, a doctor with the Civil Hospital in Nashik city, also succumbed to swine flu virus, said civil surgeon A.D Bhal Singh.

While Maharashtra accounts for 13 deaths - 10 in Pune, two in Mumbai and one in Nashik - one death each has been reported from Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Chennai and Thiruvananthapuram.

As many as 115 people were found positive Wednesday - 61 in Pune, 24 in Mumbai, 10 in Bangalore, eight in Delhi, four in Ahmedabad, three each in Kolkata and Hyderabad, and one each in Shillong and Goa, the health ministry said.