Rain wreaked havoc in Himachal Pradesh on Monday, killing 22 people, nine of whom were buried underneath the rubble of a collapsed temple and some houses in two Shimla localities.

Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu said nine bodies have been pulled out of the debris from a Shiv temple in the Summer Hill area that collapsed and the other site in the Fagli area where several houses were buried under mud and slush.

All schools and colleges in the state were closed on Monday. According to the state emergency operation centre, 752 roads were closed in the state because of the calamity.

In Solan district, seven members of a family were killed in a cloudburst.

Two houses in Solan were washed away following the cloudburst on Sunday night. While six people were rescued, seven others were killed in Jadon village, a police official said.

The dead have been identified as Harnam (38), Kamal Kishore (35), Hemlata (34), Rahul (14), Neha (12), Golu (8) and Raksha (12), Superintendent of Police, Solan, Gaurav Singh said.

In Balera panchayat of the district, two children died as their makeshift house collapsed in a landslide and the body of one of them has been recovered. Another woman died in a landslide in Banal village of Ramsheher tehsil, said Deputy Commissioner of Solan Manmohan Sharma.

In Hamrpur, Deputy Commissioner said that three persons have died while two are missing due to incessant rains in the district. He appealed to all the residents of the district to take special precautions in view of the bad weather and avoid going out unnecessarily.

"Distressing news has emerged from Shimla, where the Shiv Mandir at Summer Hill collapsed as a result of the heavy rainfall. As of now, nine bodies have been retrieved. The local administration is diligently working to clear the debris in order to rescue individuals who may still be trapped. Om Shanti," Sukhu posted on X, formerly known as Twitter.

In another post on the microblogging site, he said, "Devastating rains led to a landslide near the Shiv Temple in Shimla's Summerhill area, burying many people. Some people have died. I am present at the spot and rescue work is underway on a war footing. All possible efforts are being made to rescue the people buried under the debris." Heavy rains battered Himachal Pradesh since Sunday, triggering landslides that blocked several roads, including the key Shimla-Chandigarh road which was closed for buses and trucks.

A key stretch of the Shimla-Kalka National Highway connecting Shimla and Chandigarh has been affected by recurring landslides over the past two weeks, officials said.

On Sunday, a large number of heavy vehicles got stranded on both sides of the road at Chakki Mor near Koti in Solan as continuous sliding obstructed movement on the road throughout the day. The small vehicles are being diverted through alternate routes, they added.