Gangtok: Four persons, including a child, have been buried alive when their house was swept away by landslide in a remote area of West Sikkim district, a senior official said on August 4.

Sukhbahadur Subba (24), his youngest sister (7), wife (21), and their two-year-old son were buried alive on late on August 2 night after heavy rains-triggered landslides washed away their house at Banduke Dara near Uttarey, about 140 km Gangtok, sub-divisional magistrate (SDM) Pema Ongmu said.

Subba's parents, who were away to attend the funeral of his grandmother, were safe, Ongmu said.

The SDM, who went there to oversee the rescue operations, said that the bodies were extracted from the debris by the civil defence and police personnel and brought to the district hospital at Geyzing.

The district administration provided the family with immediate relief materials and announced an ex-gratia payment of Rs 50,000 to the next of the kin of the deceased.

PTI