Brit was burned alive in Ecuador after 'unstoppable' vigilante mob overpowered police
A British man was lynched and burned alive in Ecuador after a vigilante mob baying for his blood overpowered police.
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According to police, an angry mob ‘exceeded the capacity of seven officers' whose duty it was to protect them man who was killed in a revenge attack.
The British man, who has not been identified, was being held in a police station in the Sucumbios province of Ecuador after being accused of shooting dead a local guide, named locally as Rodrigo Chavez.
Police said that at the time of his death he was working and teaching English and was “making reservations for tourists visiting the area”.
Local police confirmed he was arrested around 6am on Sunday morning following the murder accusations, but tensions boiled over and vigilantes stormed the police station, dragged him outside and set him on fire metres from the front door.
He died from his burns.
Read more: British tourist killed after being struck by boulder on trek through Himalayas
Specialist police had been due to come to the station to take the man to the provincial capital, about 75 miles away.
But they were too slow to arrive because the area is hard to get to, being accessible only by river.
The regular officers are said to have decided not to intervene when the mob broke into the station, out of concerns for their own safety. according to local media.
The Foreign Office has said it is urgently working with local authorities to confirm the details and establish the man's identity.
The killing took place after an event held by the Kichwa indigenous community. The Kichwa are the largest indigenous group in the Ecuadorean region.
Despite being remote, Playas del Cuyabeno is a popular eco-tourist area. It is nearly 200 miles from Ecuador's capital, Quito.