The downpour brought widespread destruction to the remote ski resort, about 22 kilometers (14 miles) from the main town of Manali in the Kullu district of the Himalayan state of Himachal Pradesh on Thursday.

Twenty-six bodies were recovered and 14 other people were still missing more than half a day after the storm, said a state government spokesman. Eighteen others were injured and taken to hospital.

Most of the victims were migrant labourers from India's eastern Jharkhand state and Nepal and were working to build the Rohtang tunnel when they were hit by the deluge, Kullu's assistant police superintendent Devinder Thankur told AFP.

When completed, the Rohtang tunnel will connect Kullu to the Lahaul valley.

Meanwhile, another storm drenched Kotkhai, some 60 kilometers (37 milies) from Himachal Pradesh's state capital Shimla, littering the town with huge heaps of mud and scraps of destroyed vehicles, witnesses said.

"The flood carried away three buses, two trucks, a utility van and a car, besides damaging 21 shops in the bazaar," a local journalist said by telephone.

There was no immediate report of casualties.

In July, at least 100 people were feared killed when a workers' camp constructed at a power project in the Kullu district was swamped by a flashflood.

The casualties were also workers, mostly migrant labourers from India's Bihar state and from Nepal.

TERRA.WIRE