Kathmandu, July 31 (DPA) At least nine people were killed and four injured after landslides hit three districts in western Nepal, officials said Friday.

The landslides followed heavy monsoonal rains since Thursday night.

The largest death toll was seen in Syangja district, about 200 km west of Kathmandu, where five people died when their homes were smashed by falling mud and rocks, police said.

The victims, who included people in their 70s and a five-year-old, were trapped in their homes Friday by debris when the side of a hill collapsed at Chitrebhanjyang, the police said.

Three more people died in the neighbouring Tanahun district and one person was killed in Dailekh district, police said.

The latest deaths brought the total number of people killed by flash floods and landslides to at least 40 since heavy monsoonal rains began this week.