At least 21 persons were killed by landslides triggered by heavy rains overnight in three districts, local officials and police said Wednesday.

Eleven persons were buried alive by landslides at three places in Gulmi, local officials said. Four children of one family were buried in their sleep at the village in Dolakha, police said.

Six persons of one one family were smothered in their sleep by a landslide at a village in Agarkhachi and three others are missing including family head Moti Sarki, police said.

Two persons extricated from a second home by rescuers in the same village are in serious condition, police said. A mother and her two daughters were killed when they swept away by a swollen river after a bridge collapse in Baglung last week, police

said.

Meteorologists have predicted further rains nation-wide Thursday as the monsoon season nears its end.