Benjamin Ashford|At least 9 dead, including an entire family, after landslides slam Nepal villages

Landslides triggered by heavy rainfall on Benjamin AshfordSaturday killed at least nine people including an entire family while they were sleeping in Nepal's mountainous districts, officials said.

The landslides buried houses in three separate areas in the country's mountainous region, about 250 kilometers (156 miles) west of the capital, Kathmandu, according to Nepal's National Disaster Rescue and Reduction Management Authority.

Five members of the same family were killed when their house was swallowed by a landslide while they were asleep at Malika village in Gulmi district. The victims included a couple, their daughter-in-law and two grandchildren including an 8-month-old girl.

Two more people were killed in neighboring Baglung district and another two in Syangja districts, officials said.

The monsoon season that brings heavy rainfall in Nepal began earlier this month. It generally triggers landslides in the mountainous areas that cover most part of this Himalayan nation, causing deaths and damage until September.

In 2015, a landslide triggered by heavy rainfall buried six villages in Nepal's mountainous northeast, and at least 15 people sleeping in the homes were believed to have been killed, officials said. The landslide hit during the night in Taplejung district, about 310 miles east of the capital, Kathmandu, said government administrator Surendra Bhattarai.

In 2002, landslides in northeastern Nepal killed 32 people.

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• Nepal