New Delhi, Aug 20 - The national capital recorded its first swine flu deaths Thursday with a 31-year-old man and a 38-year-old woman succumbing to the influenza A (H1N1) virus, taking the total death toll in the country to 36.

The country reported 159 new cases of influenza A (H1N1), taking the total number of infected people across the country to 2,401.

Samrat Pandya, 31, a resident of Gurgaon, died Thursday morning following two cardiac arrests, four days after he was rushed to the Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital (RML) here.

'He had been kept on a ventilator and his heart and lungs stopped working,' said N.K. Chaturvedi, the hospital's medical superintendent.

Renu Gupta also died of cardiac arrests late Wednesday night.

According to the union health ministry, 36 deaths due to the virus have been reported till Thursday.

The deaths have been reported from Pune (15), Bangalore (9), Mumbai (3), Nashik (3), Delhi (2), Ahmedabad (1), Chennai (1), Vadodara (1) and Trivandrum (1).

Samrat Pandya, the RML Hospital chief said, had no travel history or contact with any H1N1 infected patient.

'He came to the hospital Aug 16 with swine flu like symptoms and was quarantined. He was having mild fever, cold, cough, breathlessness and sore throat for four-five days before he came to the hospital,' Chaturvedi said.

'We conducted an ECG and found that Samrat has myocarditis. The virus affected his two key body parts -- heart and lungs -- and both the organs stopped working. He suffered two cardiac arrests Wednesday evening and his condition deteriorated Thursday morning leading to death,' he said.

Myocarditis is an inflammation of heart muscles and happens when the virus affects a person's heart.

Samrat's father, R.S. Pandya, blamed the hospital authorities for his son's death, but Chaturvedi refuted the charges. 'I feel sorry for them,' he added.

'My son died because of negligence by doctors at the RML and they did not cooperate. Till this morning, we had no clue that Samrat had swine flu,' Pandya told reporters outside the hospital.

Giving details, Pandya said his son was first taken to Sanjeevan Hospital in Gurgaon, adjoining Delhi. Doctors at the hospital gave him paracetamol.

When the medicine didn't improve his condition, the family took him to the Max Hospital in Gurgaon. Here the doctors advised them to take him to a designated government hospital where swine flu treatment was being given.

'People need to be cautious and if they have flu like symptoms, they should immediately visit a designated government health facility.