Angry villagers beat and then burnt two men to death on the streets of Mexico after accusing them of trying to steal a car.

The men were grabbed by the 200-strong mob in the town of San Juan Chamula on Monday, according to a civil defense official, and strapped to wooden chairs before they were lynched.

The official, who was not authorized to be quoted by name, said the men had been turned over to police in the southern state of Chiapas after an alleged car theft.

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Angry villagers beat and then burned two men (pictured center, one of the victims) to death in the Mexican town of San Juan Chamula (pictured in a file photo) after accusing them of trying to steal a car

The men (pictured, one of them in red shirt) were grabbed by the 200-strong mob in the town of San Juan Chamula on Monday

But then the crowd seized the men from the local jail and pushed them through the streets. They were then placed in wooden chairs and set alight in the middle of the town square.

According to local media reports, the large mob arrived at the prison armed with 'sticks, pipes, stones and machetes'.

Proceso.com reported: 'About 200 Indians arrived at the prison, dragged the two men and took them to the main square of the town, where they were brutally beaten.

'Already unconscious, villagers threw pieces of wood on them and then set them on fire.'

Local media reports say the 200-strong mob seized the men from the local jail and brutally beat them before setting them alight in wooden chairs

A leader of the mob, who allegedly incited the lynching, has been arrested.

In 2013, two men were burned to death in the same area after they were accused of raping and killing a woman.