BEIJING - A WOMAN initially reported to be China's first swine flu death actually died of electrocution while taking a shower in a hospital, state media reported on Friday. Dozens of angry relatives stormed the hospital, it said.

Police in the coastal province of Zhejiang said an investigation confirmed Ms Lou Yihong, 34, died accidentally on Wednesday while showering, according to the official Xinhua News Agency. It said an electricity leak in the shower bathroom was to blame.

More than 50 infuriated relatives stormed the hospital and threw rocks after finding out Ms Lou had died, the report said.

The woman was found dead on the bathroom floor at the No. 1 People's Hospital in the provincial capital of Hangzhou. She had been admitted June 23, and her temperature had been normal for a week.

'The patient died of electrocution caused by leakage of electricity from electrical circuits in her ward lavatory, when she was taking a shower,' Xinhua quoted a joint statement from Hangzhou police and health authorities as saying.

Xinhua said Ms Lou's relatives protested at the hospital from Wednesday afternoon to Thursday, throwing rocks that damaged the hospital's interior and an ambulance.

Dr Shen Xiaohui, director of the hospital, told Xinhua that the hospital would 'properly handle the aftermath of the accident, and negotiate with the patient's relatives over the compensation issue'. As of Friday, 915 swine flu virus cases had been confirmed on the mainland by the Chinese Health Ministry. No fatalities have been reported.

In Thailand, the Public Health Ministry confirmed 154 new cases Friday, bringing the country's total to 1,760. Mr Prat Boonyavongvirot, the ministry's permanent secretary, said only 20 remained hospitalised, one in critical condition.

According to the latest report on Wednesday from the UN's World Health Organisation, there have been 77,201 swine flu cases worldwide, and 332 deaths.

The WHO report said seven of those deaths have been in Australia, three in Thailand and one in the Philippines. -- AP