"Four women were buried alive and recovered dead and two others were slightly injured after going to collect stones," said Sherpur district police inspector Abdul Qayyum.

"The extraction caused the soil above them to collapse on them," added Qayyum.

The women, who had been hired as casual labourers by a local contractor, were engulfed Tuesday as they worked in a cave, a report by the official BSS agency added.

Environmentalists say "hill cutting" to provide stone for sale as building material is widespread in Bangladesh.

They accuse unscrupulous builders of fuelling the practice which they say destroys wildlife habitats and the beauty of the countryside.

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