The deaths occurred in the early hours after particularly heavy downpours in the Rudraprayag and Bageshwar districts of the scenic Himalayan state of Uttarakhand, Piyush Rautela from the state disaster management cell told AFP.

A total of 14 bodies had been discovered in four villages in Rudraprayag and five other corpses were found in Bageshwar, Rautela said.

"We estimate that some 25 to 30 people are still buried under the rubble (in Rudraprayag)," Rautela added as rescue workers scrambled to locate survivors.

"Many people are missing but we fear that the chances of survival are negligible," he said.

Uttarakhand has experienced heavy and constant rainfall since Wednesday.