Four children and a pregnant woman were among seven people killed when torrential rains sparked a landslide in central Mexico in the pre-dawn hours Thursday, local authorities said.

"We send our condolences to the families of the four people who lost their lives in Huehuetlan El Grande," Puebla state governor Rafael Moreno wrote on Twitter.

After a tour of the ravaged area, Moreno said: "With deep sorrow it's reported that they found three more dead bodies... the number of deaths is seven."

In all, three women and four children died when the landslide smashed into the rural community, also engulfing a half dozen vehicles.

According to the Civil Defense personnel, the storm that hit Wednesday night caused flooding that reached over a meter (three feet) high in some canyons.