A man has died after trying to set a world record for the longest time spent buried alive.

Janaka Basnayake, 24, buried himself over the weekend with the help of family and friends in a 10ft deep trench sealed with wood and soil in the Sri Lankan town of Kantale.

Basnayake was buried at around 9.30am on Saturday. Police said that when he was brought to the surface at 4pm he was unconscious and taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead on arrival.

Doctors were not immediately able to determine how he died.

It is unclear whether there is an official world record for the longest time buried alive.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.