Dhaka (PTI): Six people, including four children, of a family were killed in a landslide caused by torrential rains in northeastern Bangladesh, police said on Saturday.

The entire family was buried alive under a huge chunk of earth as their mud house at a village in Habiganj district, 120 kms northeast from here, collapsed when they were sleeping, a local said.

According to the police, 40-year-old Mobarrak Ali, head of the family, was a street vendor. Other deceased include his wife Asma Begum, 35, and their children -- Sumon,10, Amena Begum, 7, Ripon Mia, 4, and one-year-old Noyon.

The incident occurred last night when gushing water due to monsoon downpours triggered flash floods in the north and southwestern regions and inundated a vast area, forcing thousands of people to take refuge at makeshift flood shelters.

Bangladesh had witnessed its worst landslide in recent decades on June 13, 2007, when 123 people were buried alive under tones of mud rolled out on the houses built at hill slopes at the southeastern port city of Chittagong.