At least 14 people were killed and more than 30 injured in mudslides triggered by heavy monsoon rains in India's north-eastern Arunachal Pradesh state on Saturday, news reports said.

In neighbouring Assam state at least 120 villages were inundated by flash floods, IANS news agency reported.

The casualties in Arunachal Pradesh were reported from five different locations in and around capital Itanagar, officials said.

"So far we have recovered 14 bodies. Most of the victims died after hillocks caved in on their houses," local official Bidul Payeng was quoted as saying.

At least 30 people were injured in the landslides. Payeng said the death toll could rise as at least 10 of the injured were in critical condition.

He said there were reports that two vehicles had fallen into a deep gorge on the outskirts of Itanagar.

"We are unable to carry out rescue operations due to heavy rains," he said adding that it was not clear how many passengers were in the vehicles.

Rescue workers were looking for survivors who may have been trapped in the debris of collapsed houses. At least 30 houses, some made of concrete and others of bamboo and thatch, had collapsed in the landslides, he said.

Road links between Itanagar and the rest of India were snapped due to landslides at two places, the official said.

In Assam, flash floods caused by monsoon rains Saturday inundated at least 120 villages in the eastern Lakhimpur district, about 490 km east of the state's main city Guwahati.

The floods were caused by breaches in embankments of the river Bramhaputra, Lakhimpur police officials SA Karim said.

An official at the state's flood control room said an estimated 30,000 people were displaced by the floods and had moved from their villages to raised platforms and roads.

Road links to Lakhimpur were damaged by the floods, Karim said.

The regional meteorological centre warned of more rains and thundershowers over the next 24 hours.

The army had been asked to be on standby and measures were being taken to strengthen dikes and embankments, Assam Water Resources Minister Bharat Narah said.

The seasonal monsoon rains have just begun in India and usually continue in the north-east well into August.

Almost every year, the rains lead to floods which leave a trail of death and devastation as overflowing rivers submerge villages and farmland.

At least 200 people died and more than 12 million were displaced in the floods in Assam in 2004. (dpa)