NEW DELHI, Aug. 10 (Xinhua) -- The government of the western Indian state Maharashtra decided to close down all schools, colleges, cinema halls and malls in the Pune-Pimpri-Chinchwad area Monday to check the fast spread of A/H1N1 flu in the area, said the state government.

    While schools and colleges will be closed for an entire week, cinema halls will be shut for three days, said a state government spokesman.

    The decision was made following the death Monday of a 35-year-old ayurvedic doctor in Pune who was infected with the flu virus, raising the number of fatalities of the flu in the area to three.

    India's first H1N1 flu victim was a 14-year-old girl who died on Aug. 3 also in Pune.

    Altogether, six people have died of the flu in India so far, while more than 800 are infected with the virus, most of them in New Delhi, Maharashtra state and some southern states.