MOSCOW: A father shot dead his two small sons, his wife and her parents in a Russian village in Siberia before handing $6,000 for their burial to neighbours and then killing himself, officials said on Monday.

The man killed his sons aged four and nine, his wife, 38, and her elderly parents with a shotgun in the village of Podsinee in the Khakasia region of southern Siberia, the Investigative Committee said in a statement.

“Afterwards he pushed $5,000 and 40,000 rubles ($1,200) through the fence of the neighbours' house with a note asking that they all be buried,” it said.

“Then he went into a room and shot himself dead,” it added.

The statement gave no further details but the tabloid Lifenews.ru website, known for its contacts with law-enforcement authorities, said the slaughter was the result of a family dispute.—AFP